Joe Dumars on Jeremiah Fears, Derik Queen | 2025 NBA Draft

Joe Dumars on Jeremiah Fears, Derik Queen | 2025 NBA Draft

really feel uh good about tonight actually we really feel good about the last 48 hours to tell you the truth um look uh one of the things you want to do is um when you’re building out a team is whenever you have these tentpole moments drive free agency uh trade deadline uh it’s an opportunity for you to make a statement about who you are as a team what you’re going to be really to define yourself and so uh with the last 48 hours we’re really just trying to define who we are and the type of players we want to bring in uh these two young guys tonight we um it’s crazy because we uh we felt like we were going to have to choose between these two guys the entire night and so uh to end up getting both of them was just uh really exciting for us uh we thought there was a chance that we could end up getting both of them but you know you never can tell with so many teams are moving around so um very happy tonight very happy to have these two young men and we think that they’re going to uh they’re going to be um great additions uh to the Pelicans so I’ll open it up joe can you talk specifically about what you like about these two guys yeah so both of these guys um as freshman impacted winning for their teams uh fears as second youngest player in the draft should have been in high school this past year and led Oklahoma into the NCAA um I think people saw Queen as a freshman as well led Maryland game winner against Colorado State uh the fact that these two young guys they didn’t just get to the college level put up decent numbers and now they’re in the draft they impacted winning and so that appeals to us and that goes right to what we’ve been saying just about uh the profile of the type of guys that we want to bring here and uh whether it’s the moves you made today or moves you made yesterday the the direction is obviously being aggressive and your desire to kind of reshape this roster how much is that your mindset coming in wanting to be that aggressive to make these type of Yes it’s the only way I’ve ever had success in this league i’ve been around aggressive teams uh my entire life uh in this league in this business as a professional um that has always uh served well i thought the two teams in the finals exemplified that this year they were aggressive on both ends of the court they defended like heck they pushed the ball um those are the elements that win and so yeah we want to be absolutely we want to be aggressive at all times so when you made that deal with Indiana a week ago did you have this scenario in mind where you had these two guys that you wanted and you thought that gave you the best chance to get both no not necessarily like that but what I did think was that um if we’re going to have a chance to make a move up we need another asset and so let’s go ahead and get this asset now we liked Now look when you do that here’s what you have to know if you get stuck at 23 you better have a handful of guys you like there and we did and we were just watching the board and watching who was going off and we like “Yeah we would have got one of those guys.” So we like the guys at 23 but yeah you you you know sometimes when I got here we had just the seventh pick right and so I’m like “Ah we don’t have enough assets to move around during the draft.” So yeah we had to um get that asset put it into this draft and hope that we had a chance to do what we did tonight and could you describe the the riskreward calculation that went into what you gave up next year for their Yeah so um when you have a chance to get two lottery picks in one draft um you’re accounting for the following year really when you get two in one draft and so uh that’s the first thing you calculate and then secondly look these deals um we after we drafted seven we started from nine and went all the way until we got a deal and you don’t pull the trigger on the asset next year until you get that deal otherwise you keep it um but here’s what I’ve said to the staff when you identify a player that you think this can be one of the foundations here you go you go and get him and um that’s what we did i mean like we we targeted Queen uh we thought he could be a heck of an addition here and we were really aggressive uh about going and getting him in this draft what else was it about his game that made you really you know confident that that he fit in with with what y’all do in the system and whatnot so I I’ve said you know obviously I like tough guys i like I like that aggressive tough guy but you got to have an IQ you can’t just be tough and nothing else and I I put his IQ in the game up against anybody in this draft like this is a super super high IQ guy finds people has the mentality of a guard will push it up uh he’s just got unique skills for a 610 kid um and that really appealed to me to have someone on the court like that look you call those guys connectors they can connect everybody on the court with with the way they play super unselfish um you win with guys like that what’s the biggest thing that stands out about Jeremiah or his personality just you know first of all I love the confidence that he has uh I spent time with him in Chicago at the pre-draft camp i spent time with him here a week or so ago when he came in town um super competent confident but not arrogant not cocky like um and look you need some of that to be good in this league like you you got to think yeah I’m him you know what I mean and so he does and uh I like that about him but I like his skill set just the ability to get anywhere on the court like that is a unique ability and one of the things I say to the staff all the time is like “Guys if you’re going to be a really really good team you have to have guys who can compromise the other team’s defense you you you have to have guys who can compromise other if you look at any of the good team Shay uh Hallebertton all these guys and they have multiple guys that can compromise your defense.” And so that’s what Jordan Puit can do that’s what Zion can do now that’s what Fierce can do that’s what uh Queen can do these guys can compromise the defense and when you do that you got a chance you got a real chance and with Jeremiah and the Trey yesterday obviously you’re addressing the point guard position how important was that for you like what do you want to kind of see from that position going forward you you you know what I For me it’s people who can attack so you know as you know uh if you’re playing against Denver it’s Jokic that’s attacking you and compromising your defense if you play against whoever right so I just wanted guys who can attack the other team you can’t have It’s hard to win when you just got one guy that can compromise the other team’s defense you have to have mo if you look around the league now you better have multiple guys that can attack and you’re not looking for one guy to do that night after night after night you don’t want to do that you don’t that’s that’s a hard way to live and so for me it it wasn’t necessarily the point guards it just happened to be those positions it could have been the small forwards and if they are the type that can attack I would you would have seen two of them coming here now you talk about winning in this league being more than just talent alone but having guys who have intangibles yep people who are culture builders just the acquisitions over the last 48 hours how does that speak to that vision of you so I tell you this so we make the deal when did we make the trade yesterday yeah yesterday um yeah yeah um so I’m on the phone with uh Jordan Pool first um no i’m on the phone with Sadique first and with Pool second and as I’m talking to them they were like “Man Jodique thank you man for bringing me to New Orleans man i appreciate it i won’t let you down i won’t let you down.” Here’s the thing uh those are the best trade calls you can get worst thing you can do is trade for somebody and then have to try to convince them that that they want to be here before I could even say it those guys both of them I’m telling you man both of them like “Man I so appreciate you bringing me in you won’t regret it um and and uh P said on the phone as I was talking to him he said “Listen whatever you guys ask me to do I’m going to do.” Like I’m not coming there whatever whatever it takes to win I’m going so those are the best calls you can get so when you talk about culture building those are the type of guys you want in your building that that’s coming in and saying “Whatever you need me to do man I’m there.” And so we had it was a great call from two guys who’ve played in this league already and then the young guys they were both just super excited tonight two young kids you know on the phone i facetime with both of them they were super excited man just just super happy to come look last week when Fierce was here both and and Queen was here a few days before I was out to dinner with Queen the first time and and and Fierce the second time and both of them were like “Man please bring me here please draft me man.” Like both of them like And so now what I’m saying I’m going to draft tonight i’m like “Man I you know which one of these guys what am I going to do?” So um yeah and so you know you start talking about culture and environment the first thing is you got to have guys who want to be in the building and so that’s what we have now with these four guys you said that he and Troy are pretty close what did Troy tell you about him yeah I mean he’s for the last two months that we’ve been here um he just told me about really the character of the kid like you know super unselfish not a stat guy not worried about stats he judges everything by winning and that’s it and so the time I spent with him in Chicago and his time I spent with him here in New Orleans uh that’s all he talked about like he’s not worried about how many points I got like he’s the guy that’s got six points and a win and he’s you guys know what I’m saying he’s super happy in the locker room and 20 points and he lost and he’s down for real so you know you and you know how that can go you know with guys and so he’s the opposite of the bad end of that like when we win and he has six points or four points he’ll be the happiest guy in the locker room and Joe how integral has Troy Weaver been because on his face we can see he was in Washington so he knows the bull yeah and he was around Derek Queen so how integral has he been and helpful making these decisions listen I I I think that uh and I’ve said this uh to Miss Benson uh that every element of your organization is a team and so your front office is a team the coaching staff is a team the players is a team i always want to get the best people people troy is the best he’s he’s simply the best at this he knows this we spend countless hours together here these last two months here in New Orleans um it’s it’s it’s been a journey these last two months with him but he’s he’s he’s simply the best at this and so um he was the first call I made when uh we got this done with myself and Mrs benson he was the literally the first call I made and he said “When are we going?” And I was like “As soon as possible.” And so yeah I mean super happy to have Troy with me hey John what is this night like for you i mean 40 years ago you got this phone call what’s it like when you get a chance to see these kids yeah it’s uh great you know what’s tough for me is like right before I came over here I was looking some of the kids and they’re struggling sitting there waiting on their names to get called and I can call and I like man I remember that night you know I went 18 in the draft and so you Yeah it’s a tough night for kids but man at the end of the night when those kids get their names called it’s it’s the best night of their lives so far it is the best night of their lives actually when I called Queen on FaceTime the first thing he said was “What took you so long?” I just wanted to make you wait a little while you know so you talk about wanting to bring in high character guys and guys that’ll help win a championship and all that how much was a fit next to Zion Williamson how much was that really held in in consideration while making these picks and really exploring the draft you get guys who want to win you get high IQ guys you get guys with like what I call real basketball character uh those guys fit in with anybody like when you get that you don’t have to worry about who who they’re going to fit with the the profile it is what makes them fit with everybody so you don’t have to go like okay who can fit with Z no get high character smart tough guys who who just want to win in a big way that’s how you end up winning rings and being in the finals i’m telling you you you you have to have those type of guys and so that’s what I’m focused on more than do do they fit with this guy or that guy that’s that’s a little shortsighted for me from from my vantage point anyway and you talked about in today’s NBA the importance of having multiple ball handlers something else we seeing today a lot is teams going double bigs yep how much do you kind of see Derek fitting into that oh absolutely you know we we talked about that a lot man about him and Mi and uh um Carlo and you know it’s it’s it’s imperative now that you have to have bigs um and I’m not even sure we’re done adding bigs cuz you know you need big bodies now you look at any of these teams right now they’re running two bigs out there and if you can’t match up you’re in trouble and so you know we want to make sure that that’s a strong strong strong suit for us as well joe when you look at this this roster the oldest player I think it’s De Jante at age 29 do you feel like this roster needs a veteran or two um we just need to keep adding high character guys you know some you know some bad veterans too now so you know what I mean so and some great young guys and so you just for me that character is going to supersede everything else um and look you know people misconstrue what character is um character to me is the unselfish guy who who’s great teammates i played with some I played with some characters man but they were great teammates and they was all about winning and people look at you know the wild stuff and go “What kind of guy?” Uh no incredible teammates um super super dedicated to winning um that’s what I’m looking for more than if he’s an older guy younger guy you know you you can bring the wrong guy in your locker room who’s 30 plus you know you got a problem joe what’s the a rehab process on the job yeah so every Monday I’m meeting with the medical staff updating on uh all of these guys Herb um Trey um De Jante and so just on top of it like the rehab matter of fact Deonte just called me uh maybe 30 40 minutes ago hey Jod D can I get Fears and Queen’s phone number man um so this is a guy that’s all in and you know every time I talk to Jonte he’s like Joe I’m six days a week and he is because we have one of our people out with him in Vegas uh where he is in the summer and we we’ve sent somebody out there to be with him and his uh rehab team to make sure that we’re on top of it will his recovery timeline in any way influence what you expect early on from from Jeremiah i’m sorry say again will De Jante’s recovery timeline influence um potentially Jeremiah’s exposure to playing time early in the season or not not really you know if Deante was healthy you know we still would have gone into this the same way uh it’s just about adding the pieces that you think can um can impact the game um but look you know we’re going to have some we’re going to have some really good players around Jeremiah so he’s not going to have to go out there and like carry this uh unbearable load on his shoulders uh you know when he gets on the court you know he’s going to be surrounded by guys who who’ve played in this league and know how to play man I guess what I was saying is if Deonte is not ready to go when the season starts you envision Jeremiah starting I won’t get into if he’s starting or not i mean training camp summer league you know I don’t know yet about that but you know we love the talent we love his you know we love his um we love his makeup who he is and we’ll put him out there and look uh one thing that I never do with my coaches or anyone else is put limitations of where we have to take it like look let’s find out where he is you know and if he’s ready to go let’s go with him if not you know we have enough depth uh that we don’t have to expose him to that early on and what how are you how did you feel we kind of saw his recent Dejonte’s recent comments about his experience last year with the team some of the stuff going on behind the scenes he and I had a really good conversation we talked the next day next morning about that and I I talked to him about it tell me what’s happening and and we had a good long talk about it okay um won’t be a problem this year coming up dejante we had a really good conversation about it and you know sometimes when stuff like this happens uh it’s an opportunity it’s an opportunity to get better as an organization and I call the medical staff in say let’s talk about Jante’s interview and what part of this can we get better at you know so when stuff like that happen been league long enough to know like you don’t bury your head you tack it head on like okay hey Deonte talk to me what’s happening medical staff talk to me what’s going on why is he saying this what’s you know what I mean I mean you just deal with it head huh like you don’t duck it you don’t run from it you said draft was you know in these temple moments about making a statement about who you are who do you think the Pelicans are or who do you want them to be what do you think that statement you made today was same thing aggressive aggressive team we’re going to be aggressive in this front office uh we’re going to be aggressive uh we want our players to be aggressive we want our approach to be aggressive um we we want to show up like we we’re going to show up for the run and so you know you know we have 82 runs and so we’re going to show up for the run and so we don’t have to be loud we don’t have to bang out with us or anything like that but you know we intend to be there thank you guys i appreciate your time man thank you so much appreciate yeah folks thank you

New Orleans Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars recaps Day 1 of the 2025 NBA Draft. The Pelicans selected Jeremiah Fears with the 7th overall pick and aquired Derik Queen in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft.
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New Orleans Pelicans Roster
———————————————-
Jose Alvarado #15 Guard
Brandon Boston #11 Guard
Keion Brooks Jr. #0 Forward *
Bruce Brown Guard/Forward
Jamal Cain #8 Forward *
Lester Quiñones Guard*
Jordan Hawkins #24 Guard
Herb Jones #2 Guard/Forward
Karlo Matković #17 Forward/Center
Yves Missi #21 Center
Trey Murphy III #25 Forward
Dejounte Murray #5 Guard
Antonio Reeves #12 Guard
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl #50 Forward/Center
Zion Williamson #1 Forward
* = two-way

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