Angel Reese: Derik Queen is literally ‘baby’ Nikola Jokic

Angel Reese: Derik Queen is literally ‘baby’ Nikola Jokic

We are one of the best times of year on the basketball calendar. The NCAA Tournament tips off this week while we are just one month away from the start of the NBA’s postseason!

With the former comes a huge time in the season for NBA evaluators–scouts, executives–to get their last look at some of the best prospects before the pre-draft workouts and NBA Combine in May.

One of those players is Maryland freshman Derik Queen, who’s viewed as a consensus top-10 prospect ahead of the 2025 NBA Draft. During one of his strongest scoring performances in the Big Ten semifinals against Michigan, WNBA All-Star Angel Reese likened Queen to Denver Nuggets superstar and three-time MVP Nikola Jokic.

Queen is averaging 16.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per game this season. While Queen is one of the most skilled bigs in this class with his handle and live-dribble playmaking with both hands, he’s not Jokic. Nobody is Jokic.

Queen also drew comparisons to current Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun, which is more suitable. Regardless, we do this every single year with tantalizing prospects in draft classes, comparing them to all-time greats. Both players are physical bigs who are skilled offensively, but Jokic has always been more mobile with better shooting touch from all three areas.

That’s not to say that Queen can’t develop into someone with that kind of skill set. Queen may not be far off from Jokic when he entered the league, but let’s wait until he gets to the big show before we make those conclusions about him being, “Baby Jokic.” At the end of the day, most players may show “shades” of certain players–but Queen is his own player, as is Jokic. Let’s leave it at that for now.

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