METAIRIE, La.-The New Orleans Pelicans held on to their first-round choice in the NBA draft for the first time since 2012, then used it to select a relatively mature rookie who was among college basketball's best long-range shooters this past season.
New Orleans drafted Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield with the sixth overall pick Thursday night, adding a player that led his team to the Final Four and took home a number of prestigious individual honors.
Hield, who averaged 25 points per game as a senior last season, was named an AP All-American and won the prestigious Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy. He hit 147 3-pointers, hitting about 46 percent of his shots from long range
"He's a phenomenal player," Pelicans general manager Dell Demps said in brief comments after the pick. "He's a player we targeted. We're thrilled to have him."
Many Louisiana basketball fans became familiar with 22-year-old Hield when he played before a packed house at LSU in late January. He made seven of his eight 3-pointers in the second half on his way to a 32-point performance, helping then-No. 1 Oklahoma overcome a 14-point deficit to escape Baton Rouge with a 77-75 victory.
Hield now returns to Louisiana for his first professional gig in New Orleans, joining a Pelicans club coming off an injury-plagued, 30-52 campaign.
This year's draft marks the beginning of a busy offseason for the Pelicans, who are trying to give All-Star forward Anthony Davis a stronger supporting cast.
When free agency starts in July, New Orleans will have to decide whether to re-sign former regulars including guard Eric Gordon and forward Ryan Anderson.
Pelicans general manager Dell Demps said earlier this week that "the door remains open" for the 6-foot-4 Gordon and the 6-10 Anderson to return, but that he expected both players to test the free agency and that the Pelicans, likewise, would be exploring their own options.
Because the Pelicans drafted Hield, New Orleans will have less urgency to bring back Gordon, who averaged 15.2 points per game last season while hitting about 42 percent of his 3-point shots.
This marks the first time since 2012-when the Pelicans selected Davis first overall-that New Orleans has had a first-round draft choice. The Pelicans traded first-round picks in 2013 and 2014 to Philadelphia as part of trade that brought guard Jrue Holiday to New Orleans.
Holiday was injured for most of his first two seasons and began last season on minute restrictions, but progressed into a starting role last season and, along with Davis, is expected to comprise the core of the club going forward.
New Orleans gave up its 2015 pick in a trade that brought 7-foot center Omer Asik to the Pelicans from Houston for the 2014-15 season.
For some, draft is a family affair
NEW YORK-Like father, like son. Again.
For the 15th consecutive year, the son of an NBA player has been drafted. Orlando took Domantas Sabonis-the son of Basketball Hall of Famer Arvydas Sabonis-with the No. 11 pick on Thursday night.
Domantas Sabonis averaged 17.6 points last season for Gonzaga. His father spent parts of seven seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, from 1995 through 2003.
This might not be the last in this draft, either. Possible second-round selection A.J. English III of Iona College in New Rochelle, New York is the son of A.J. English, who spent two seasons with the Washington Bullets in the early 1990s.
Here's the other sons who followed in their dad's footsteps in the previous 14 drafts:
Mike Dunleavy (2002); Luke Walton (2003); Jackson Vroman (2004); Sean May (2005); Ronnie Brewer (2006); Al Horford (2007); Patrick Ewing Jr. (2008); Stephen Curry, Gerald Henderson and Austin Daye (2009); Ed Davis (2010); Klay Thompson and Nolan Smith (2011); Austin Rivers (2012); Tim Hardaway Jr., Glen Rice Jr. and Erik Murphy (2013); Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker (2014); and Justise Winslow, Devin Booker, Jerian Grant, Larry Nance Jr. and Joseph Young (2015).
Thon Maker, the 10th pick by Milwaukee, was the first player chosen in the NBA draft who wasn't in the Green Room when his name was called.
He was sitting in the stands with family and the crowd around him exploded with cheers when his name was called.
Maker, who played in Australia, says he made the longer walk to the stage because he sat where he was "comfortable" and wanted to be with his family.
With the No. 5 pick in the NBA draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves selected Kris Dunn of Providence.
No pressure, Mr. Dunn. This tends to be a spot for players to shine.
Here's the other No. 5 picks in Minnesota history: Kevin Garnett in 1995, Ray Allen (who was traded for the No. 4 pick, Stephon Marbury) in 1996 and Ricky Rubio in 2009. And they worked out fairly well.
There are few proud college coaches at Barclays Center for the NBA draft, and they are all smiles.
Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar, Michigan State's Tom Izzo and Kentucky's John Calipari were among the college coaches in attendance. And each of them had multiple players in the draft.
Romar was visiting with Marquese Chriss and Dejounte Murray, Izzo was talking with Denzel Valentine and Deyonta Davis while Calipari took pictures with Jamal Murray and Skal Labissire and their families.
All the players invited to New York for the NBA draft got up on stage at Barclays Center for the usual group picture.
A quick fashion take: It seems bow ties are the favorite sartorial item this year.
The "Green Room" is full of future NBA players, their parents, friends, college coaches and agents. The crowd at Barclays Center is sparse so far but thanks to a late trade with Indiana, the Brooklyn Nets have a first-round pick at No. 20 so crowd will have something to cheer about-or boo about.
All eyes will be on long-presumed No. 1 pick Ben Simmons when the NBA Draft gets started, and then it's Brandon Ingram's turn when the Los Angeles Lakers make the No. 2 pick.
After that, the intrigue begins.
Boston holds eight picks in this draft, including the No. 3 selection. And what Danny Ainge does or doesn't do with that selection will likely shape many of the other 57 decisions that will follow over the course of the evening.
It's a night the Celtics have waited some time for, and Ainge holds more cards than anyone else.