The front-office decisions that brought Derik Queen to New Orleans were indefensible, so ham-handed that even the counterpart in the trade reportedly couldn't believe that the offer was real. Pelicans execs Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver gave up a first-round pick in a loaded 2026 draft in order to move up just 10 slots and select Queen at No. 13 this year; they will have to wear that indignity for the rest of their careers. But at least the baby-faced big they overpaid for looks stellar, even as his team toils at the nadir of the Western Conference.
Queen posted 33 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and four blocks in Monday's 135-132 loss Monday to the San Antonio Spurs, the first in what could be a long procession of triple-doubles. Over the last few weeks, the soft-handed Queen has displayed enough ball skills, vision, and dainty footwork to kick off a lifetime of comparisons to Nikola Jokic. These may grow tiresome, if they are not already. Jokic himself was recently prodded about the comp, which elicited a begrudging admission of similarity: "Slow, crafty, I can see it."
Like that great man, Queen has some clear flaws—he is not a center, defensively, not even close—and whether or not he can excel depends on the extent to which those flaws can be covered up by team scheme or hard work. But he's only 20 years old, and his feel for scoring and playmaking is unmistakable. You already see how even someone savvier than Dumars might have detected a potential offensive engine here, and a way forward after the abortive Zion Williamson era.
Queen had just four points at the half on Monday night. The second half boiled down to a duel between Queen and Dylan Harper, the off-guard selected second overall by the Spurs, as both rookies were handed the rock and asked to cook. Queen consistently lit up Spurs center Luke Kornet, who was lumbering far too slowly to keep up with Queen's first step or dervish-like post footwork. Listed at 6-foot-9, Queen is noticeably smaller than Jokic, and fleeter of foot; when he runs the fast break or barrels in from the perimeter, he looks more like an overgrown wing. Queen also doesn't yet have that strength of the Nuggets center, but he does at least have the finesse for some funky, fading finishes around the rim when he fails to bully his way all the way in for a layup. Dominating as a scorer in the second half, he earned enough defensive attention to free up his teammates, and Queen hit them with the sort of succulent bounce passes that make you want to entrust an offense to him.
Lest I get carried away with optimism here, let's acknowledge that the Pelicans are still very injured, very bad, and sitting at 3-22. But between Queen and fellow rookie Jeremiah Fears, a point guard with a slick handle and slasher's athleticism, the team's future has brightened significantly since our last check-in. At that time, I pointed out what a terrible theoretical fit Queen was alongside Williamson. That remains true: Their strengths are duplicative and their weaknesses are exacerbated by one another; I imagine opponents enjoying layup-line jaunts to the rim. But Williamson is now out indefinitely with a hip adductor strain, and no longer needs to be treated as the sole means of redemption for this accursed team.
