The New Orleans Pelicans didn't wait around for their second pick of the 2025 draft, making an aggressive move up the board to land Maryland center Derik Queen.
New Orleans drafted Oklahoma PG Jeremiah Fears at No. 7 overall and also owned the No. 23 pick, acquired in a trade with the Pacers last week. The Pelicans shipped that pick to the Hawks, along with an unprotected 2026 first-rounder for the draft rights to Queen. The trade was the first truly aggressive draft move of the Joe Dumars era.
It was a bold move by the Pelicans, with the 2026 pick they'll be sending out carrying no protections and it will be the better pick of either New Orleans or Milwaukee's selection.
“When you identify a player that you think this can be one of the foundations here, you go and get him, and that’s what we did," Dumars said. "We targeted Queen, we thought he could be a heck of an addition here and we were really aggressive about going and getting him in this draft.”
Queen, at 6-10, 246 pounds, averaged 16.5 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists in his lone season with the Terrapins. The allure of Queen comes not only with his size, but his guard-like ability to move with the ball. That skillset was displayed in the NCAA Tournament when he hit a running game-winner to take down Colorado State.
“I like tough guys, but you’ve got to have an IQ. You can’t just be tough and nothing else," Dumars said. "I would put his IQ in the game up against anybody in this draft. Like, this guy is a super, super IQ guy, finds people, has the mentality of a guard, will push it up. He’s just got unique skills for a 6-10 kid, and that really appealed to me.”
Queen and last year's first-rounder Yves Missi will form a young an intriguing duo for the Pelicans, who have seen significant turnover in that group the past few seasons.
The Pelicans have one pick remaining, but it won't come until Thursday at No. 40 overall. That pick was acquired in the trade of CJ McCollum earlier this week.
Related
Dumars has said the team intends to move forward with superstar forward Zion Williamson as its focal point, and it will look to bounce back from a 21-61 season that marked its worst since rebranding from the Hornets.