Derik Queen selected No. 13 overall by Pelicans (via Hawks) | 2025 NBA Draft Grades & Reaction

Derik Queen selected No. 13 overall by Pelicans (via Hawks) | 2025 NBA Draft Grades & Reaction

say that Derek Queen at 13 pretty good. What’s your grade. Yeah. On talent at this spot I give it an A minus because I thought Derek Queen was a top ten. Maybe a top eight prospect in this class. The people who criticized Derek Queen will talk about the conditioning and the athletic concerns that go along with it. And you can extend that to the defensive end of the floor as well. They will also talk about the fact that he’s an inconsistent shooter. What I will tell you is he has arguably the best hands in the draft. He’s exceptionally skilled at his size, and he can playmake in the front court, both by putting the ball on the floor and as a passer. Now, what concerns me here is the fit, because you’ve got Fiers who we talked about ball dominant, not a consistent shooter. You’ve got Williamson ball dominant not a consistent shooter. And I hate to state the obvious here but but Troy Weaver who in Detroit built a team where shooting was the major concern. There are starting to be some similar concerns here. Unless Zion may not be as much of a building block as you’re saying. And that’s the thing. Obviously he’s had off court issues that have brought his future into question. Sure, particularly in New Orleans. So in theory, if you’re trying to build around Zion Williamson, I would like to add shooters. Yes. More so more so than players like they’ve added tonight. But it is possible their long term plans don’t include Zion Williamson. Either way, this is one where I can struggle with, if I’m being honest, because I do think there’s a best player available aspect of this where you just take him no matter what. But like Fink said, in this particular situation, the fit I don’t think is perfect. We had a game winner, the buzzer beater, in the NCAA tournament against Colorado State. It was incredible. Did he did he get it off in time? Yeah he did. Was there a foul. There was all that whatever he traveled. But don’t let that ruin the right. Exactly. Well he he well the letter of the law I remember Matt we brought Matt on and was there was it a travel Matt is he now? He’s traveling to New Orleans I reached out I mean, if we’re going to go literally back to March, I reached out to two officiating sources. And in that moment they told me, yes, it was a travel Derek Queen traveled. But whatever. He is now going to go to the Pelicans. Here’s what you need to know about why this happened. New Orleans I checked in with Queens camp earlier today. New Orleans was showing genuine interest at number seven, but they knew they were not going to be able to justify the pick that high. Atlanta was the only team between number six and number 15 that Derek Queen did not work out for. This is Atlanta’s pick. It’s getting shipped to New Orleans. The Pelicans franchise was absolutely enamored with Derrick Queen. Atlanta was never going to draft Queen. They’re going to move back. They’ve got a lot of guys in that range now in the early 20s that they’re targeting. And they’re going to get two picks next year. By the way, at a source. Tell me right before we went live here on HQ. So Atlanta gets two bonus picks as a result of trading out of this queen. Overall, he had mixed reviews across the past four weeks as he went through team workouts. Some you know, some teams want to see him still continue to shed more weight, put on more muscle. Obviously his skill set is passing. His shooting ability is undeniable. Derek Queen is also the player that his former coach, Kevin Willard, went viral for. When he told me last season that if he was European and white, he’d be in the conversation to be number one in the draft. He’s not that, but he is a lottery pick all the same. And I will say this, having gotten to know Derek Queen a bit, he is someone who certainly lights up a room. Really fun personality, very smart on the floor. Kevin Willard told me that he was the one player more than any other. Remember, he’s a freshman that he could count on the most to never have to give the instructions to twice. He knew what everyone’s assignment was on the floor at any given time at both ends of the floor here. So I understand the pick from New Orleans. It was trending this way. I think there were other teams right behind this pick that were ready to pull the trigger on Queen. And instead New Orleans made its move and it gets this guy. I’m curious your your take on this because we have another situation where a kid’s got to wear another hat that he’s not going to play for. Like, doesn’t that steal the moment that you’re not going to Atlanta, you’re going to New Orleans? What what is taking so long to get this like, changed? It’s patently, patently ridiculous. This goes back to I think that it’s probably been a thing since the beginning that they did the draft, but Scottie Pippen did this with with the Bulls way back in the day when he was Scottie Pippen when he got drafted. It seems like it should be a simple fix. I know for official purposes they have to process the trade and all that. But when everyone, everyone knows where he’s going to go, have him on draft night, get photographed in the actual hat of the team that he’s going to be playing summer league with. But these are small time problems. Ultimately, Derek Queen is going to be thrilled that he was able to turn in a one and done season and now go down to New Orleans and hopefully be part of a franchise that can start to get things going back the way that they were hoping it would go, you know, two, three years ago. He does have the potential. We’ll see if he can really put it all together. His skill set does suggest ateast a chance at being one of

Adam Finkelstein, Gary Parrish, and Matt Norlander join CBS Sports HQ to grade Derik Queen being selected by the Hawks at No. 13 overall. He was then traded to the New Orleans Pelicans.

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