When the New Orleans Pelicans fired David Griffin at the top of the offseason and replaced him with former Detroit Pistons executive Joe Dumars, no one really knew what to expect. The Pelicans and their fans were coming off an abysmal 21-61 season, surviving purely through the hope that the lottery provided them, offering a sliver of a chance at landing a generational talent like Duke's Cooper Flagg or Rutgers' Dylan Harper.
It turns out, rather than getting rewarded for their suffering, the New Orleans faithful had their devotion tested yet again. Instead of staying in the top four or climbing, they were jumped by three other teams and pushed down to seven. That didn't stop Dumars from trying to land a star, though.
With the seventh pick, he took Oklahoma's Jeremiah Fears, an unflinching scoring guard who made a name for himself by relentlessly attacking the lane despite his small stature and repeatedly coming up clutch throughout tournament play for the Sooners. But Dumars wasn't satisfied with just one lottery pick. He traded up from 23 to 13 in order to select Maryland's Derik Queen, an offensive hub whose last college outing saw him drop 27 points on the eventual-champion Florida Gators in the Sweet Sixteen.
While Queen undoubtedly has star potential and had accrued plenty of supporters ahead of the draft, the Pelicans' trade to grab him was widely panned, not because of him, but because of the high price New Orleans paid to get him.
Derik Queen thinks the New Orleans Pelicans made the right move by trading up for him
To jump up to 13 and draft Derik Queen, Joe Dumars and the Pelicans gave up pick 23 (Georgia's Asa Newell) and their unprotected 2026 first-rounder to the Atlanta Hawks. Not only do the Hawks get New Orleans' first-round selection next year, but they also acquired the swap rights with the Milwaukee Bucks. So, even if the Pelicans end up having a great season in 2025-26, they could still be forking over an invaluable lottery pick in a year with a loaded class if the Bucks don't perform.
Damian Lillard is likely to miss the entire 2025-26 season after suffering an Achilles tear in the first round of these past playoffs. On top of that, the Bucks are set to have an extremely thin roster around Giannis Antetokounmpo after depleting their assets to trade for Dame and Kyle Kuzma, and that's if the Greek Freak doesn't demand a trade out.
So, even those who like Derik Queen and thought he was a good pick at 13 have to admit that Joe Dumars and the Pelicans paid a pretty hefty price to get him. But Queen isn't worried about the value that New Orleans gave up for him, even if the pick does end up being a high lottery selection. When asked if the criticism for the trade has motivated him, he said:
"Yes, definitely. I'm gonna say, I don't think nobody in that [2026] class is ever going to be better than me, so I block all the noise out. [Joe Dumars] got a lot of faith in me. Most of those guys I beat on in high school, so it don't really matter... Just beat on them next year when they come in and make Joe look like a genius."
Next year's class has several blue-chip prospects who are expected to take the NBA by storm, including AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, and Cameron Boozer. Derik Queen is confident that they'll all be playing in his shadow, though. For Joe Dumars's sake, let's hope he's right.