New Orleans Pelicans Take Baylor Star in NBA Draft First Round

The New Orleans Pelicans are hoping to capture lightning in a bottle with their first round pick in this year's NBA Draft. The team didn't have a lottery pick, and the draft was already being called one of the weakest in recent memory, so it was going to be hard to land on a star with this pick no matter what.

But the Pelicans may have found a way to thread that needle.

With the 21st pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, the Pelicans selected Yves Missi from Baylor. Missi is called a 7-foot center, but apparently at the NBA Combine he was measured at 6-11 without his shoes. Either way, he has a wingspan over 7-feet, and has an incredible "bounce" on his jump. He's been listed as having a vertical leap of at least 37 inches, and his Strength Coach at Baylor said he can reach nearly 13 feet...

The instant reaction of experts was that the Pelicans got a steal at this pick. Missi has the talent to go higher in the draft than the 21st overall pick. So for him to fall to a team that needs a paint presence was pretty perfect.

In fact, there were some mock drafts that had Missi going in the lottery picks, as high as 10th of 11th overall. Getting that kind of talent at the 21st pick is great news for the Pels.

Remember, this was a playoff team last year too. A team that could have made more noise in the playoffs if Zion Williamson didn't suffer an injury in the first round. Adding a defensive player that can score off the pick-and-roll just makes that team better.