National Basketball Association

Pelicans reportedly want to trade up for Scoot Henderson

Published Jun. 13, 2023 1:27 p.m. ET

Could Scoot Henderson be the missing piece for the New Orleans Pelicans? The team's front office apparently thinks so.

The Pelicans are expected to "aggressively pursue" trading up into the top three slots of the 2023 NBA Draft to select Henderson, The Athletic reported Monday.

Henderson, 19, played for the G League Ignite this past season. Across 19 games, he averaged 16.5 points, 6.5 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 42.9/27.5/76.4.

The Pelicans own the No. 14 pick in this year's draft. As for other assets at their disposal, the Pelicans own potentially as many as five first-round picks over the next three drafts. They also have young players on rookie deals such as Trey Murphy III, Herbert Jones and Dyson Daniels.

Another possibility is New Orleans dangling former No. 1 overall draft pick Zion Williamson to the Portland Trail Blazers, who select third, as the latter could look to revamp its roster around 32-year-old star Damian Lillard.

New Orleans began last season 23-12, reaching as high as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. They proceeded to finish the season 42-40, as Williamson suffered an eventual season-ending hamstring injury in January. The Pelicans lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the NBA play-in tournament as the No. 9 seed.

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