Derik Queen vows that Joe Dumars will look like ‘a genius’ amid draft night disaster

Derik Queen vows that Joe Dumars will look like ‘a genius’ amid draft night disaster

You could argue that draft night was a disaster for the New Orleans Pelicans, specifically after they traded their 2026 unprotected first-round pick to move up 10 spots (No. 23 to 13) to draft Maryland’s Derik Queen.

Even with Zion Williamson and Dejounte Murray (recovering from an achilles tear), the New Orleans Pelicans are not expected to be a threat in the West, making Joe Dumars‘ decision all the more questionable.

However, during his introductory press conference, Queen vowed to prove the naysayers wrong by Dumars’ short-sighted decision.

“I don’t think nobody in that class is ever going to be better than me,” Queen said Saturday at his introductory conference. “I block all of the noise out. (Dumars) got a lot of faith in me. Most of those guys I beat on in high school, so it don’t really matter.

“I know that the NBA is a whole different level, so I just got to continue to get better. Don’t get too big-headed. Don’t get too low and just beat on them next year when they come in, and make Joe look like a genius.”

It’s not that Queen is a bad player–he was No. 17 on my draft board, and went No. 13, so it’s not completely crazy–but the Pelicans, as currently constructed, can’t afford to take these sizable risks (no pun intended). There’s a non-zero chance they could be picking in the top 4 next year in a loaded Western Conference; New Orleans’ ceiling is essentially a play-in team if everything clicks, which is a big if.

Queen’s fit next to Williamson and Yves Missi is also pretty questionable. His athletic profile is objectively bad and will need the ball in his hands to be impactful offensively; he’ll take up similar spaces as both of those players and doesn’t have the lateral foot speed nor north-south food speed to keep up with other 4s and 5s.

Is Julius Randle expected to re-sign with Timberwolves?

I’m sure there is a way to make it work, but that’s Willie Green‘s job, not mine. All I can tell is that trading your unprotected first in the process is genuinely insane, no matter how good of a player Queen becomes in 4-5 years. I love Queen’s confidence in himself, but this could be a disaster for the Pelicans no matter how you slice the pie.

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