Snapshot
- Team / role: New Orleans Pelicans depth movement shooter; outside the base healthy ten-man rotation.
- 2025-26 baseline: 51 games, 13.6 MPG, 5.1 PTS, 1.7 REB, 0.8 AST, 0.3 STL, 0.2 BLK and 0.9 threes on .366 FG and .852 FT. NBA team statistics, accessed 2026-07-18
- Depth signal: the July 15 depth projection placed him third at shooting guard and identified trade/cut risk. Yahoo, 2026-07-15
2026-27 projection
| GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | 3PM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 12 | .385 | .850 | 0.9 | 4.9 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.5 |
Correction 2026-07-18 Raised from 40 GP x 8 MPG. Hawkins now holds the tenth slot in the team's healthy-night model at 8 minutes, inheriting the shooting-guard share vacated when Jordan Poole was moved out of the rotation ten. This is the least secure promotion on the desk: McGowens and Poole are the alternative claimants and none of the three has a reported role.
Fantasy translation
- Nine-category: 230+; threes alone cannot offset the minute and percentage risk.
- Points: 230+; not draftable.
- Dynasty: 180-230; age and shooting reputation preserve a sliver of value, but the next role decision is pivotal.
Role, floor and ceiling
Floor: waived, traded into another crowded bench or fewer than 250 NBA minutes. Ceiling: a 20-minute bench-gunner role with two threes per game if a Poole trade and improved shooting reopen the door. He needs either elite volume shooting or broader counting stats to become a standard-league asset.
Injury and transaction monitor
Hawkins remains on the official roster through July 18, but his role was not described as secure in the available depth analysis. Official roster, accessed 2026-07-18 No current injury was verified in the research packet.
Career record
Pre-NBA: Two seasons at UConn. As a sophomore in 2022-23 he averaged 16.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists with 2.9 made threes at 38.8%, then made the NCAA All-Tournament Team on the Huskies' national-championship run, scoring 24 against Arkansas, 20 against Gonzaga and 16 in the title game. Born April 29, 2002; listed 6'5". Draft: 2023, round 1, pick 14, New Orleans Pelicans.
| Season | Age | Team | GP | MPG | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PM | FG% | FT% | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | 21 | NOP | 67 | 17.3 | 7.8 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.6 | .382 | .838 | 0.6 |
| 2024-25 | 22 | NOP | 56 | 23.6 | 10.8 | 2.8 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 2.0 | .372 | .816 | 1.0 |
| 2025-26 | 23 | NOP | 51 | 13.6 | 5.1 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.9 | .366 | .852 | 0.7 |
| Career | 174 | 18.2 | 8.0 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.5 | .374 | .829 | 0.8 |
Durability: 67, 56 and 51 games in three seasons. The 2024-25 absences were the significant ones — a lumbar spine annular fissure plus a thumb problem cost him a large block of the season including the final eight games. He reported the back fully resolved entering 2025-26, and the reduced 2025-26 game total reflects rotation decisions more than health.
Trajectory: A lottery pick drafted for one skill who has not made that skill work at the NBA level: three seasons, 34.8% career from three, and a field-goal percentage that has fallen every year. The 2024-25 season at 23.6 minutes was his opportunity and he shot 33.1% from deep through it; 2025-26 was the correction, with minutes cut nearly in half and three-point volume dropping to 0.9 a game. He now sits third at shooting guard behind a crowded room with reported trade or cut risk. He becomes fantasy-relevant only in the narrow case where New Orleans moves Jordan Poole or Trey Murphy, hands Hawkins 20-plus minutes, and the shooting finally reverts toward his UConn form — three conditions, not one.
Career sources: ESPN career stats · Wikipedia · NBA.com 2023 draft prospect page · UConn athletics bio
Open questions
- Is Hawkins on the opening-night roster?
- Can his FG% recover above 40%?
- Does New Orleans still view him as a development priority?