EVERYONE is Speaking Out About This…

EVERYONE is Speaking Out About This…

everyone is speaking out about Derek Queen and the Pelicans trading up to go get him in the draft but there’s a little thing called the internet you know and a lot of people have left some receipts and we’re going to talk about it inside this edition of Pelicans Digest Once again we thank you so much for tuning in It’s your people Mel of the Mic Mel’s talking about them pels and we want to thank you for helping us cross over a thousand subscribers here on YouTube man We really do appreciate it Thank you so much man I appreciate all the comments man We getting the conversations going here on Pel’s Digest man So once again thank y’all so much for y’all uh support and for rocking with us here on the channel And let’s just keep running this number up man Keep telling your friends about it man We really do appreciate it And let’s get into the raging ongoing raging debate about what’s going on with the Pelicans selection of Derek Queen at number 13 jumping up 10 spots to go get him while also giving up a first round draft pick next year And of course as you heard this this move is being called disastrous Everybody’s hating this move apparently all across social media And uh he was asked in his introductory press conference with the Pelicans uh if that was going to give him a chip on his shoulder And he had a great answer to that I like his answer He says “I don’t think nobody in this class is going to be ever going to be better than me I block all of the noise out Joe got a lot of faith in me and most of these guys I beat up on in high school so it really doesn’t even matter And man’s got a lot of reason to talk that talk man Uh because when you look back on where he was placed at in the mock draft you you got you kind of start realizing something here that this kid may be as good as it is And maybe all this backlash that you’re hearing about this kid and the Pelicans moving up to go get him is a whole lot of clickbaity nonsense And we’re going to get into that in a matter of minutes But first I want you to imagine a scenario real quick Okay Now everybody everybody in their mama according to all these dra these mock drafts before the draft knew that the Pelicans were going to go get a guard or center And if you you could go look back at all those mock drafts on every sports website that there’s out there about basketball too They had the Pelicans going with either a guard or a center I saw some people say it was going to be Trey Boston I heard a lot of people say uh which they called correctly they said it was going to be Fierce But I also saw a lot of mock drafts saying that uh they were going to go after Maluke Uh I’m I’m sorry if I’m saying his name wrong but Maluke uh was a guy that was linked to the Pelicans So a lot of these same analysts and people who are upset with the Pelicans about this move are the same people who pretty much mocked up and knew that the Pelicans was going to get a center in his draft Joe Dumar in his press conference says after he drafted seventh because remember you got three picks but you got two in the first round after we drafted seventh we started from nine and went all the way until we got a deal at 13 and you don’t pull that trigger on the asset next year unprotected uh which was the unprotected pick of course until you get that deal otherwise we keep it now here’s why I have no problem with him well I’ve explained that before I ain’t even going to go back into detail about why I have no problem with him moving up because they want to be aggressive I have no issue with that The thing you got to understand is if he knew they was going to get a center okay there was realistically only two or three centers that were highly rated in this draft and one of them was Derek Queen Okay Maluk was the other one Now all these people who are on the internets complaining okay all these people who are on the internets complaining about uh this draft pick I want you to remember something about about this pick okay Cuz this is interesting I decided to go back and take a look at some of these mock drafts going into uh this draft Okay I wanted to I went back a couple of days and looked at some of these articles for this draft and I found out something very interesting something very very very very very very interesting Okay here’s CBS Sports CBS Sports had Malibu ranked eighth and Derek Queen ninth Okay that so that means you got that means according to them that’s one and two when it comes to centers If you’re looking for a center you’re going to look at the number one and number two That’s like when you Google something you ain’t going to go down and try to scroll down to the 10th or 20th thing You gonna look for the one or two that’s ranked up there pretty high Okay so if you’re the Pelicans and you’re looking for a center and you know that Malibuk is more than likely going to get gone early on in the draft that leaves you with the option of going get to keeping your eyes on the second best center in the draft if that’s what your position need is calling for and that’s what you’re looking for So if the second best center in that draft according to CBS Sports and also a whole lot of other folks including uh this man here my man uh John Hollinger with the Athletic this was on NBA.com you know he had Derek Queen ranked higher than Ace Bailey believe it or not That you go look up the article I got it posted right there You go look it up Go do your Googles He had him He had Derek Queen ranked higher than Ace Bailey but yet it’s a disaster that the Pelicans picked him for some reason And that’s what I’m not getting about all this backlash because it seems like everybody seems like this is so disastrous But yet all these same people had this kid up ranked high on their on their draft boards They had this kid ranked high the second best center in the draft Now of course Shams who had the smart take about this and the the take that I love about this how can you judge this being a disastrous decision What if he ends up being a Hall of Famer What if he ends up being a perennial allstar Then no one is going to be talking about this in three years And that’s what I’m saying man So again put yourself in the Pelican shoes for a second okay You know you’re going to go draft a center The you know the first guy the top rated center up there is going to be gone You’re not picking until 23 You know he’s going to be gone and as predictably he’s gone early He’s not nowhere in the range of your seven He’s gone before you can even get to seven So you have to decide on the guard or the center You go with the guard You know you got the second pick Let’s get the guard now because he’s going to get snatched up Let’s see what we can get if we can get the second best kid that we’ve been targeting in Queen because he’s the second best center according to all of these analysts now And so they make the move They jump up 10 spots because according to uh let me check here the New York Post they said that uh he was probably gonna get picked at 12 Uh according to Sam Smith he says that uh Phoenix was going to take him at 10 I saw an article somewhere that said that uh he was going to get taken as late as 15 by Oklahoma City So if you’re in the Pelicans if you’re in a position to try to find a big man and the big and the big man’s are getting taken and you know that you have your eye on the first or the second best one and you know the first one’s going to go going to go which one will you take next Are you going to take the third one the fourth one take a risk and see and and wait 10 spots or you going to take that chance to go jump on it now That’s to me that is the smarter thing to do That’s why I see the vision of what Willie uh uh uh Joe Dumar and him is doing and talking about But I just find it so funny that all these guys who are now lambasting this trade are hating this or hating that the fact that we went up to go get Derek Queen Why is it Why is there so much hate for this move I think I know why Because they just needed somebody to bash There really wasn’t nobody else to bash So let’s just bash on the Pelicans in my opinion I think they always seem to make bad decisions They always seem to make bad moves They seem to be doing too much at the draft uh here at the draft and in the days leading up to the draft why how dare they try to be aggressive and try to get better What what are they doing Why would they give up a first round pick where nobody still in the in the days leading after this draft had come up to me and said who this is going to be the top prospect of 2026 Nobody Go check the comments on my page Nobody has still come up to in these comments and said this is going to be the top guy in 2026 That’s why you need to hold on to your first round pick nobody So that’s what I’m saying If you have the chance to go get the guy you want now go get him And that’s what they did with Derek Queen Now will he be a success Only time will tell I think he will be because I think he will be a great insurance policy against Zion Williamson He can either come in and start playing immediately or you can sit him and back him up behind Zion Williamson or Eve Missy or do something like that You can put you have a world of opportunities to go with this kid who has great handles and and can put up some boards and also get some scoring So let’s go get the guy that you want That’s what this is all about my people All the backlash that you’re hearing is people just seem to be upset that they were wrong because I don’t understand why was it the second you’re so-called second highest rated center in this year’s draft just because the Pelicans when they traded up to go get him It’s a problem Why is that a problem Because we gave up a first round pick Again it could backfire but I’ve said this before You have enough assets on this team that you can get back in the first round next year if it comes to that So stop with all the huff That’s a whole lot of to foolery out there man That’s a whole lot of t foolery out there man Stick with the plan man I see the plan I see the process Let’s work through it and try to get through the season man And thank y’all so much once again Once again let me clap it up for y’all man Appreciate y’all once again man for giving us the support here at Pelicans Digest and helping us push over about over a thousand plus subscribers Let’s keep the number going man Tell your friends about it man Tell your fellow Pel’s fans about it It’s Mels And I’ll catch you next time right here on Pel’s Digest

Pelicans Digest is a YouTube channel dedicated to covering all the latest news, trades, reports, and rumors about the New Orleans Pelicans. We provide in-depth coverage of game highlights, player performances, and analysis of team strategies. Our channel features discussions on key players like Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy, Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, and Herb Jones, along with insights from Head Coach Willie Green and General Manager Bryson Graham. Stay tuned for all the exciting updates and engaging content on everything Pelicans!