The New Orleans Pelicans are already considered by many as a dark horse this season. This is thanks in large part to the return of Zion Williamson, who missed all of last year due to a lingering foot injury. Now, just imagine how this team would look like if they were able to land Victor Wembanyama in the 2023 NBA Draft.

At this point, this mouth-watering partnership has emerged as a real possibility, and the Pelicans have no one else to thank other than LeBron James and the Lakers. This is after LA suffered yet another deflating loss on Friday, giving them a league-worst record of 2-10.

In case you forgot, it's the Pelicans who own the Lakers' draft rights for 2023. LA handed that pick to New Orleans back in 2019 as part of the Anthony Davis blockbuster trade deal. Nobody probably saw this coming, but it seems like the Pelicans are now getting a legitimate shot at one of the most high-profile draft candidates in recent history all thanks to the Lakers.

It's obviously still very early in the season, and there's still a lot of basketball to be played. However, given what we've seen from LeBron and the Lakers thus far, it's very much possible that they end up heading to the draft lottery at the end of this campaign.

This is exactly what the Pelicans will be hoping for. The Lakers likely won't hold the worst record in the NBA at the end of the season, which means that New Orleans won't have the best odds at landing Victor Wembanyama. However, they'll probably still get a chance to draft this generational talent, which quite frankly, is all they can ask for at this point.