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Pelicans NBA Draft Prospect Profile: Illinois Fighting Illini G Kylan Boswell
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- Pelicans NBA Draft Prospect Profile: Illinois Fighting Illini G Kylan Boswell
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The New Orleans Pelicans have a great talent evaluator in Troy Weaver and an aggressive leader in Joe Dumars, so they should never be counted out to grab a player that they like.
They have a second-round pick from the Detroit Pistons to work with in this year's draft, but have not ruled out the possibility of going higher. Right now, though, the focus should be on the players who will be available in the second round, whom the Pelicans could consider.
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Continuing to go through second-round options, one player who makes sense is Illinois Fighting Illini guard Kylan Boswell . He's someone New Orleans could potentially end up with if they don't move out of the No. 58 spot, as his draft stock seems to be around the second half of the second round.
The guard averaged 12.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists on 44.4/30.7/78.1 shooting splits. His defensive production varied, but he peaked at 1.4 steals per game as a sophomore.
As Jamahl Mosley let everyone know, he expects his players to produce on the defensive side of the ball, so it's good to see that Boswell can at least be productive there. Even if the numbers dropped to 0.7 steals, the guard was still named to the Big Ten All-Defensive team this past season.
Boswell will need to keep that defensive edge as he goes into the next level, especially as other areas of his game have lacked throughout his four-year college career. He was a career 32.7% shooter from deep, which is the biggest concern in finding where he fits on this current Pelicans roster before they make their pre-draft adjustments.
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New Orleans desperately needs more shooting to pair with its frontcourt of non-shooters. Any time a guard who isn't a reliable spacer is out there will make things harder for everyone. His efficiency was all over the place throughout his career.
They aren't the same player, but he could potentially fill a role similar to Alvarado. Someone who can hit some shots off the bench, can run an offense competently, but is really used to bring energy and defense.
Boswell is also a pretty good rebounder for a guard, especially on the offensive boards. There is value in what he would bring to the team off the bench. As things currently stand, though, it's unclear how much he would actually see the court in this deep guard rotation.
