Draft

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Pelicans.com

The New Orleans Pelicans will have the 21st overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft.

The NBA broke six ties among teams with identical regular-season records on Monday, April 21 through random drawings to determine the order of selection including breaking the Pelicans three-way tie with the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks, each team having finished the regular season 49-33.

The result was the Bucks finishing with the 21st slot, the Suns with the 22nd and the Pelicans with the 23rd. The Pelicans have swap rights with the Bucks for this year's first round draft pick giving them to right to swap the 21st and 23rd selections.

The other relevant tiebreaker for the Pelicans is the four-way tie between the Philadelphia 76ers, the Indiana Pacers, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic with the Lakers finishing second in the group of four teams tied with 47-35 record in the regular season. The Lakers were awarded the 17th selection. The Pelicans have the right to obtain the Lakers' selection in the draft, but hold the option to defer receiving the Lakers' first round selection to the 2025 NBA Draft.

The drawings were conducted by NBA President of League Operations Byron Spruell at the NBA office in Secaucus, N.J. The tiebreaker process was overseen by Marc Dieli, a partner from the accounting firm of Ernst & Young.

The rest of the first round selection order will be finalized when the NBA draft lottery is held Sunday, May 12 at 2&nbsp;p.m. ESPN will broadcast the lottery.

The first round of the NBA Draft will take place on Wednesday, June 26, and the second round will take place on Thursday, June 27.

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Pelicans to have 21st pick in 2024 NBA Draft

The NBA announced today that Pelicans guards Dyson Daniels and Jordan Hawkins have been selected to compete in the 2024 Panini Rising Stars, which will take place on Friday, Feb. 16 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as part of NBA All-Star 2024. The NBA’s annual showcase of premier young talent will air live at 8 p.m. CT on TNT.

For the third straight season, Panini Rising Stars will feature a three-game mini tournament among four teams comprised of NBA rookies, sophomores and NBA G League players. The pool of 28 players for Panini Rising Stars consists of 11 NBA rookies, 10 NBA sophomores and seven NBA G League players.

The combined 21 NBA players for Panini Rising Stars, selected by NBA assistant coaches, will be drafted onto three seven-player teams. The seven NBA G League players, selected by the NBA league office, will comprise the fourth team.

Daniels, 6-7, 203, who was selected 8th overall in the 2022 NBA Draft, is averaging 5.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists in his sophomore season. The Bendigo, Australia, native leads all rookies and sophomores with 60 steals this season, tying him for eighth in the NBA. Daniels’s 128 deflections ranks sixth in the NBA and leads all first and second year players.

Hawkins, 6-5, 192, who was selected 14th overall in the 2023 NBA Draft out of Connecticut, is averaging 10.5 points while shooting .391 from three-point range, 2.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists. Hawkins leads all rookies and ranks second among NBA rookies and sophomores with 91 made threes this season. Hawkins ranks eighth among NBA rookies in scoring, while averaging the second-fewest minutes per game of that group (21.6 mpg). Hawkins is one of three rookies with multiple 30-point games this season, and one of eight first or second year players.

Daniels and Hawkins become the tenth and eleventh players in New Orleans franchise history to participate in the Rookie Challenge/Rising Stars Game, joining Chris Paul, Anthony Davis, Buddy Hield, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Nicolò Melli, Zion Williamson, Herbert Jones, Jose Alvarado and Trey Murphy III.

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Dyson Daniels and Jordan Hawkins named to 2024 Panini Rising Stars

Go behind the scenes for New Orleans Pelicans guard Jordan Hakwins' first day with the Pelicans after being drafted 14th overall in the 2023 NBA Draft.

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Behind the Scenes: Jordan Hawkins' first day with the Pelicans

Go behind the scenes at New Orleans Pelicans guard Jordan Hawkins' first community event with the Pelicans at the Youth Empowerment Project and 18th Ward Sports Club's youth basketball camp on Tuesday, June 27, 2023.

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Behind the scenes at Jordan Hawkins' first community event with the Pelicans

New Orleans Pelicans guard Jordan Hawkins' talks about his journey to the NBA after being drafted 14th overall in the 2023 NBA Draft in his one-on-one interview with team reporter Erin Summers.

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Jordan Hawkins talks journey to the NBA in one-on-one interview

Jim Eichenhofer

The glowing praise related to Jordan Hawkins’ accurate perimeter shot continues to accumulate, with descriptions such as “breathtaking” and “unmatchable” being common since he was drafted by New Orleans at No. 14 overall last week. The 21-year-old sounds motivated to carve out a reputation beyond being just a spot-up shooter, however.

“People target me as a shooter, but last year our (national championship UConn) team was so deep, I had to take a step back and take that role,” Hawkins said Tuesday during his introductory New Orleans press conference. “I can put the ball on the floor, create when I have to, playmake. I adjust to what the team needs me to do.”

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Jordan Hawkins' Introductory Press Conference 6/27/2023

Near the top of the Maryland native’s 2022-23 individual resume was his 38.8 three-point percentage on 281 tries, but he also was second on the Huskies in free throw attempts per game (3.8). It helped that Hawkins led NCAA Division I with 23 fouls drawn on three-pointers (via CBB Analytics), but he totaled 141 foul shots, making 125 for an elite percentage of 88.7.

Since helping UConn win the 2023 national title in April, Hawkins said he’s added 10 pounds, realizing he needs to get stronger as enters the professional level.

“I’ve been putting a lot (of work) on my body,” he said. “That’s been the most important thing for me through this process.”

During ABC’s draft-night coverage, UConn head coach Dan Hurley described Hawkins as a mature and coachable player, with an attitude that lends itself to improvement.

“The shooting is breathtaking when you see it on a daily basis,” Hurley said. “He’s tough, competitive, he’s got a chip on his shoulder. He really didn’t come into his own until late in his career, so he hasn’t had his butt kissed a whole lot. He lets you coach him, he wants to be coached, and he’s an old soul.”

Pelicans GM Trajan Langdon used a similar tone Tuesday in his assessment of Hawkins.

“Not only is (his) shooting very important to us, but the more digging and the more intel-gathering we did on him, we understood what a high-character young man he is,” Langdon said, “coming from a great family, hard worker, highly competitive and obviously bringing a national champion in the fold was intriguing to us as well.”

Given his on-court reputation and skill set, defenses have always tried to prevent Hawkins from firing open shots or getting clean looks at the basket with his feet set. As a counter to that strategy, the 6-foot-5, 190-pounder has worked on adding versatility to his offensive arsenal. He’s constantly focused on his conditioning in order to run relentlessly on offense, while developing a knack for shooting on the move or off of screens. Hawkins mentioned that one of his high school coaches developed a “Reggie Miller offense” to capitalize on those strengths.

“I knew I was a shooter at a young age, but adding that movement piece was really important,” said Hawkins, who’s studied the way guards such as Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Richard Hamilton and Ray Allen relocate away from the ball in halfcourt offense.

Three months after scoring 16 points in UConn’s title-clinching win over San Diego State, Hawkins will get his first chance to show his ability at the pro level in Las Vegas during NBA Summer League. New Orleans’ summer squad will debut in game action July 7 vs. Minnesota.

“I’m really excited for it, my first glimpse of professional basketball,” said Hawkins, who’ll practice with his summer teammates prior to the trip to Nevada. “It’s going to be really fun. I can’t wait for that first practice, to see what it’s really like. I can’t wait.”

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Pelicans No. 14 pick Jordan Hawkins motivated to continue adding to skill set

New Orleans Pelicans first round draft pick Jordan Hawkins' (Guard, UConn) introductory press conference on Tuesday June 26, 2023 at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center after being drafted 14th overall in the 2023 NBA Draft.

At this point you’ve probably seen plenty of national reactions to the New Orleans selection of guard Jordan Hawkins with the final pick of the 2023 draft lottery, but no one knows the player as well as those who covered him during his two-year University of Connecticut career. Pelicans.com enlisted David Borges, UConn men’s basketball beat writer for Hearst Connecticut Media, to help provide additional background on the 21-year-old Maryland native, as he joins the Pelicans and begins preparing for July summer league.

Pelicans.com: Let’s start with Thursday’s draft. What was the general reaction among UConn fans and media to Hawkins being picked 14th, the final selection of the lottery? Was that a surprise or expected? Did he enter last season as a player expected to turn pro in 2023?Borges: Hawkins was expected to go anywhere between about 8 and 20, and most thought he’d be right on the fringe of the lottery. Which, obviously, he was. And now, as a lottery pick, he gets a banner on UConn’s practice facility walls, alongside the program’s 14 other lottery picks.Hawkins came to Storrs with a plan to be an NBA Draft pick after two years, just like James Bouknight. In fact, Hurley told him he could be the “next James Bouknight.” Hurley also predicted back in early November that Hawkins would be a first-round pick this year. It sounded a bit lofty at the time, but he had seen Hawkins in summer workouts and secret scrimmages, and he was right. Their plan came to fruition.

Pelicans.com: Hawkins made one of the biggest jumps from his freshman to sophomore year you’ll ever see by a player, going from scoring 5.8 points per game to 16.2. What were some of the biggest reasons behind that increase?Borges: Hawkins dealt with some injuries (including concussions) as a freshman. He also struggled a lot with his confidence. When he struggled, he had poor body language and seemed too hard on himself. He worked on improving on that a lot over the summer, along with getting up thousands of shots. He was much more confident this season. And he was also healthy, save for an injury in the season-opener that kept him out of the next two games … and a bout with food-poisoning at the Final Four!

Pelicans.com: UConn head coach Dan Hurley was quoted as saying that Hawkins “still has an unbelievable upside beyond who he is right now.” What are some of the areas where he can make the biggest improvements?Borges: He can definitely improve his ballhandling. And while he’s improved his defense a lot since his freshman season, coming up with a few awesome chasedown blocks this season, he certainly needs to bulk up a little bit and improve even more on that end of the floor.

Pelicans.com: How do you expect playing in the NBA will impact Hawkins and some of his strengths? For example, his spot-up shooting appears to be perhaps his most pro-ready skill. Now he’ll be playing with several elite offensive talents in New Orleans.Borges: Hawkins’ ability to shoot off of ball-screens is elite. He’s always in motion, always moving, and has a very quick release and accurate shot. It seems tailor-made for the NBA.

Pelicans.com: The New Orleans front office has made a major emphasis on character and bringing in players who are good teammates in recent years. How do you describe what Hawkins has been like in his interactions with other players and/or the media?Borges: Jordan is a very nice, quiet, soft-spoken kid. He got along with everyone on his team and his coaches love him. He’s not the biggest talker, and his interactions with the media are often via short answers, but he’s always courteous and respectful.

Pelicans.com: What’s one thing even diehard UConn fans might not know about Hawkins?Borges: I think it’s cool that Hawkins said his heroes aren’t MJ or LeBron or Kobe or KD, but his parents, Jasmine and Craig. When asked what his favorite basketball memory was, he simply stated it was shooting hoops and working on his game outside with his dad.

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Significant year-to-year jump at UConn made Jordan Hawkins an NBA lottery pick

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