The New Orleans Pelicans have been one of the most disappointing franchises of the 2020s. They entered the decade with so much excitement around their young core, headlined by Zion Williamson, also featuring Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, and Lonzo Ball. The Pelicans would make this core stronger with picks like Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones in the following seasons, but none of it has materialized in success for the franchise.
While Zion’s well-known health struggles have been a major reason for their lack of success, it’s also been questionable team-building decisions. One of the biggest ones they made was in the 2020 NBA Draft, as the first draft pick they made to surround Williamson with a co-star was to select Kira Lewis Jr.
Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul revealed on ‘Game Over With Rich Paul and Max Kellerman’ that he told the Pelicans to draft Tyrese Maxey at No. 13, but the franchise chose Lewis because analytics told them Maxey was a bad three-point shooter.
“The reason I don’t like analytics. When Tyrese Maxey was coming out, I hate to tell you this, I begged the Pelicans. They were one of the first teams I allowed in the gym to see Maxey. I’m telling them, they had the 13th pick. But they said, ‘He don’t really shoot the three that well.’ What tape are you watching? What type of threes is he shooting? Is it a grenade?… I just saw this guy saw 25 threes in a row, you saw what I saw. Analytics don’t tell you what kind of heart you have in key moments of the game to make a wide-open shot.”
Passing on drafting Maxey with the reason being that shooting is wild. Maxey has averaged 21.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 4.8 assists over his NBA career so far, shooting 37.7% from three. Meanwhile, the Pelicans’ actual draft pick, Lewis Jr., averaged 5.2 points on 29.4% shooting in four seasons before finding himself out of the league. Suffice to say, whatever analytics told the Pelicans that Lewis was a better shooter than Maxey were clearly busted.
Lewis Jr. entered the Draft after two seasons in Alabama, where he averaged 15.9 points on 36.2% shooting from three. Maxey entered the draft after one season with the Kentucky Wildcats, averaging 14.0 points on 29.2% from three in college.
Maxey ultimately was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers at No. 22. Many believe that this pick saved the 76ers’ Joel Embiid era from fizzling out due to the former MVP’s injury-prone play. Maxey regularly carries the franchise, leading the NBA in minutes in 2025-26 with 38.0 per game.
If the Pelicans had Maxey alongside Zion, he might have been able to make them competitive enough to be a Playoff team more often. Williamson has yet to play a Playoff game in his career because his body rarely manages to end the season healthy. If Maxey were on the Pelicans, maybe he’d be able to manage his minutes and production better, knowing that Maxey, alongside Murphy III and Jones, can make something happen.
Ultimately, the Pelicans weren’t the only team that passed on Maxey. A lot of executives and scouts missed the potential he had, as he’s having a glittering NBA career. But picking shooting as the reason to pass on Maxey shows the poor judgment of David Griffin’s front office, which has since been replaced by a Joe Dumars-led front office.
