Joe Dumars put tremendous pressure on Derik Queen when he went out and traded up for him in the 2025 NBA draft. Trading up for a talent during draft night already puts pressure on a young man, as it shows the front office truly believes in you. But when you go out and give up an asset as valuable as a 2026 unprotected first-round pick swap between themselves and the Bucks, as well as pick No. 23 to get Queen, it only adds to the pressure.
Due to the package Dumars gave up to get Queen, he already has his fair share of critics, including me. He is a highly gifted offensive talent who can score and create for others in the post, but has serious struggles keeping up with his defenders.
For Queen to shut the mouths of his naysayers, he must show promise defensively in his rookie season. And there's no better place to start than later this afternoon in his summer league debut against the Minnesota Timberwolves at 2:30 CST.
During his collegiate career, Queen showed flashes of defensive brilliance while at the University of Maryland. I point to his first game in college, which was a dominant performance against Manhattan. Queen had 22 points, 20 rebounds, and two blocks. He was everywhere; it was like watching a different player defensively than the one we saw for the rest of the season. He was so engaged and disciplined.
After that game, he fell into bad habits. He was hunting for blocks instead of playing disciplined, and we started seeing him get exposed for being too slow-footed to guard on the perimeter.
The first step to Queen being a good defender starts with discipline
With Queen's offensive abilities, as someone who can be an offensive hub, a team could run their offense through him. He doesn't need to be an elite defender to be a great player. He has to be solid and someone you can trust having as a rim protector, and that starts with his discipline. Queen doesn't have bad defensive traits, he is a capable defender, but often ends up getting lazy or too relaxed defensively.
Photos of Queen working alongside Pelicans player development coach Greg Monroe are extremely encouraging. Monroe, during his 10-year NBA career, was never an elite defender but was always good enough to get the job done. Monroe was an extremely disciplined defender, and that's something that'll hopefully rub off on Queen.
If Queen can show more defensive discipline during Summer League play, it’ll be a promising sign for his development. He faces a more manageable assignment today in Joan Berignger, who isn’t known as a dominant offensive big. It’s a good opportunity for Queen to ease into the challenge of defending NBA-level talent in the paint.