The New Orleans Pelicans didn't have many bright spots during the 2025-26 season, finishing with a 26-56 record and missing the playoffs for the second straight season. But during a campaign marked by disappointment, the front office saw an emergence from both of their lottery picks from the 2025 NBA Draft.
Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen's hard work throughout their rookie seasons was rewarded Wednesday night, as both players were named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.
2025-2026 NBA All-Rookie teams:
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 20, 2026
First team: Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, Kon Knueppel, VJ Edgecombe, Cedric Coward
Second team: Ace Bailey, Jeremiah Fears, Collin Murray-Boyles, Maxime Raynaud, Derik Queen
On the year, Fears averaged 14.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 43.4 percent from the field and 33.0 percent from three-point land. Queen also had a very well-rounded first season, averaging 11.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game and shooting 47.3 percent from the field.
On top of impressive statistical seasons, both Fears and Queen remained healthy throughout the season, which in the modern NBA is an incredible feat. Fears appeared in all 82 games, and Queen missed just one game.
Whether you agree with the direction that Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver plan on taking this team as the offseason ramps up, one thing is clear. The future is incredibly bright with both Fears and Queen in New Orleans.
The Pelicans’ future hasn’t been this bright in a long time
What stood out to me most about Fears and Queen, both during their rookie seasons, was the perseverance and desire to get better every day.
When you’re on a struggling team whose playoff hopes are all but dead at the All-Star break, it’s easy to get complacent, especially as a rookie when you don’t know any better. But for both of the Pelicans lottery picks, that couldn’t have been further from what happened. Every couple of games, you could see the growth in not just them as players but as people, the maturity, the awareness, and their comfort level only got stronger.
This led to both Fears and Queen ending their rookie seasons on an absolute tear. In the last game of the season, DQ Queen posted a 30-point, 20-rebound game, and over the final five games, Fears averaged a cool 31.8 points per game on an efficient 47.1 percent clip.
Early on, I wasn’t sure if Fears had the chops or potential to develop into a true franchise point guard, but after 82 games, he completely flipped that narrative. Seeing him go from being frantic and all over the place offensively to someone who could manage a game the way he did down the stretch was like seeing a caterpillar become a butterfly.
Although I’m not as certain about what Queen’s long-term career outlook looks like, to me, it’s clear Fears should be this team's lead man for the next decade plus. It’s rare for a team to have a lost season like the Pelicans did while still finding answers about the future the way Fears and Queen provided.
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