Duke basketball: Ideal landing spots for the three NBA-bound Blue Devils

Cassius Stanley to the Pelicans

• Per the current standings and past trades, New Orleans would hold picks No. 14, 38, 44, and 60

Former Duke basketball sharpshooter and current New Orleans Pelicans general manager Trajan Langdon recently outlined on the franchise’s podcast what the decision-makers in the Bayou will be scouring to find from the pool of both college grads and the more than 200 underclassmen who have declared for the NBA Draft:

“We have a group of guys who are very competitive. The guys that are going to come in here, mentally, are going to have to be ready. They’re going to have to be tough. They’re going to have to be strong-minded. Because I think we have a group, if you fast forward a year, that is going to be ready to take a big step.”

One way to take a big step, of course, is to add yet another big-time leaper. Enter 2019-20 All-ACC Freshman Team selection and Duke basketball vertical-leap record-holder Cassius Stanley.

True, the 20-year-old two-guard from Los Angeles could, naturally, be a fun pick for the Lakers instead. That said, it’s too alluring not to picture Stanley soaring the skies of oft-tagged “Hollywood South” in picturesque formation with unprecedented rim-frightener Zion Williamson and four other members of #TheBrotherhood: Brandon Ingram, JJ Redick, Frank Jackson, and Jahlil Okafor.

ALSO READ: Hypothetical Blue Devil decathlon, Zion Williamson vs. Cassius Stanley

Now that we’re clear on where Stanley must end up — even if only for entertainment purposes — it’s time to wrap this up by unveiling the most logical place for the reigning National Freshman of the Year to roam as a rookie and beyond…