With the 14th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, the New Orleans Pelicans select shooting guard Jordan Hawkins out of UConn.
Hawkins at 21 years old stands at 6’5” while weighing 195 lbs. and is a cousin to LSU women’s basketball star Angel Reese.
He spent two years at UConn where he played 27 games, but only started in four. He averaged 5.8 points, two rebounds, and half an assist a game in that 2021-22 season.
For his sophomore season, Hawkins started in 37 games, averaging 16.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists while shooting 40.9% from the floor and 38.8% from behind the arc. He is also a good free throw shooter, knocking down 82.1% and 88.7% of his attempts.
One of his best games as a Husky was this past season when he scored 31 points on St. John’s on 9/16 shooting and 4/9 from three-point land while he made all nine of his shots from the charity stripe and grabbed five rebounds.
Hawkins now joins a backcourt of C.J. McCollum, Jose Alvarado, Trey Murphy III, Dyson Daniels, and Kira Lewis Jr.
After tonight’s draft, teams will get ready for free agency that will start on Friday, June 30th as the Pelicans will have options to fill their roster whether they played for the team last year like Josh Richardson, Jaxson Hayes (who is a restricted free agent), or E.J. Liddell.
Some big-name free agents this offseason are Kyrie Irving, Khris Middleton, Caris LeVert, Christian Wood, Russell Westbrook, D’Angelo Russell, Tobias Harris, Fred VanVleet, Kyle Kuzma and others.