We saw numerous trades go down in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday night. But one in particular, a trade between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Atlanta Hawks, caught the attention of FS1\u2019s Nick Wright during his live stream of the point, who made it a point to brutally critique the Pelicans\u2019 decision-making in making the deal.<\/p>\n
The Pelicans and Hawks swapped 2025 first-round picks with the deal, with the Pelicans receiving the No. 13 overall pick and the Pelicans receiving the No. 23 overall pick. However, the Pelicans also gave up an unprotected 2026 first-round pick in the deal, which Wright believes could be far more valuable than the Pelicans organization realizes.<\/p>\n
Upon learning about the trade, Wright proceeded to go on a rant for over four minutes about how bad the deal was for the Pelicans, which featured numerous instances where he was too shocked to speak.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Atlanta Hawks are trading the No. 13 pick to the New Orleans Pelicans,\u201d said Wright during a live edition of What\u2019s Wright? with Nick Wright. Wow\u2026 Wait, is this right? Did New Orleans just\u2026 Earmuffs, kids. New Orleans just f*cking traded away next year\u2019s first-round pick, unprotected, to move up from 23 to 13? That might be the most reckless draft day trade I have seen in five years. With absolutely no due respect, who the hell does New Orleans think they are?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can not, if you are New Orleans, trade away next year\u2019s first-round pick unprotected. You could be terrible. Like, I know you don\u2019t want to think you could be terrible. But you absolutely could be terrible. How could you possibly trade away your unprotected first-round pick next year? Atlanta, great job, credit where it is due, man. That is a hell of a job by Atlanta. You move back ten spots and you get a lottery ticket for last year.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWHAT ARE THEY THINKING!?\u201d@getnickwright<\/a> could not believe what the Pelicans traded to the Hawks during the NBA Draft pic.twitter.com\/9RZ8kBcOOi<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 What\u2019s Wright? with Nick Wright (@WhatsWrightShow) June 26, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Wright would go on to share his opinion that the only teams on paper that may have a more valuable 2026 first-round picks are the Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, and Charlotte Hornets.<\/p>\n \u201cHere is a fun exercise,\u201d said Wright. \u201cWho\u2019s unprotected first-round picks for next year are more valuable than New Orleans? Who are the teams that have a better chance of just bottoming out? Utah, for sure. Washington and Charlotte. That\u2019s the list. New Orleans won 21 games last year. What are they thinking? What a baffling, baffling\u2026 This is Joe Dumars? Oh no, Joe Dumars, no. They might have just traded the number one pick of next year\u2019s draft.\u201d<\/p>\n The NBA Draft lottery obviously makes it incredibly unpredictable as to who will end up with what pick in next year\u2019s draft. After all, nobody thought it was possible that the Mavericks would end up with the top pick this year.<\/p>\n However, on paper, Wright certainly has a point here. It\u2019s not like the Pelicans are some kind of established contender that are sure to be good next season. To the contrary, the Pelicans just traded one of their best players, C.J. McCollum, in what appeared to be a salary dump move, to bring in Jordan Poole, who is no sure thing in his own right in the eyes of most.<\/p>\n Perhaps even more baffling is that the Hawks actually have another possibility outside of the Pelicans pick to obtain a top draft pick in next year\u2019s draft by making this trade.<\/p>\n