Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Rockets, CP3, Mavs

The Pelicans sent $1.8MM to the Hornets in order to move up from No. 40 to No. 31 on draft night to select Frank Jackson, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). While that’s a significant price to pay to move up nine spots in the second round, New Orleans recouped some of that money later in the night, according to Pincus, who tweets that the Pelicans got $1MM from the Pacers for the No. 52 overall pick.

That 52nd pick in Thursday’s draft initially belonged to Washington, but was acquired by the Pelicans last week in exchange for Tim Frazier. So, in order to acquire the draft rights to Jackson, New Orleans ultimately gave up Frazier, the No. 40 overall pick, and $800K.

Here’s more from around the Southwest division:

• Discussing the Rockets‘ interest in Chris Paul during a spot on ESPN (video link via Ben DuBose), Chris Haynes suggests that he has heard Houston has a “serious chance” to land the veteran point guard.
• Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News takes a closer look at some of the potential free agent targets who figure to be in the Mavericks‘ price range this offseason.
• Mavericks guard Seth Curry still hopes to spend some time at the point, even after the team drafted Dennis Smith Jr., but also believes he and Smith are capable of playing alongside one another. “We’re very different type players,” Curry said, per The Dallas Morning News. “I definitely don’t have his athleticism but hopefully we can do some dynamic things on the court together.”