BROOKLYN – It definitely was not the draft-night result Cheick Diallo hoped for Thursday, but the New Orleans Pelicans weren’t complaining.
A 2015 McDonald’s high school All-American, Diallo spent one season in college at Kansas, then declared for the NBA draft, hoping to become a first-round pick. It didn’t happen, as he went unselected until choice No. 33, causing evident disappointment for the 6-foot-9 power forward. The surprises continued when Diallo learned – while wearing a Los Angeles Clippers draft hat – that he had been traded to the New Orleans Pelicans. The Clippers received the 39th and 40th overall picks from New Orleans, choosing David Michineau and Diamond Stone with those selections.