With the fifth-overall pick in next month's 2025 NBA Draft, the Utah Jazz will have an array of compelling options to pick from atop the first round, even if it may not be the likes of Cooper Flagg or Dylan Harper.
Among those early names floated around for the Jazz has been Maryland center Derik Queen, one of the best big men across college basketball last season, and projects to have intriguing two-way upside as a potential top ten talent on the board later this June.
During his last season at Maryland, Queen appeared in 36 contests to average 16.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and over one block and one steal a night all as a 20-year-old freshman. Needless to say, its easy to see why he's surged up draft board as of late.
So would Queen be an ideal fit for the Jazz with their first-round pick? In the eyes of former Utah forward C.J. Miles, it might not be so seamless.
Miles went to X and dished an interesting take on the Jazz potentially selecting Queen in this year's draft, raising some questions as to whether or not Utah would be best served taking a big with his skillset alongside the roster's existing frontcourt.
"Unless somebody leaving, it doesn’t make sense," Miles wrote in a reply to @JazzLead. "[Kyle Filipowski] and him are very similar as far as how they affect the NBA game, and Flip shoots it better already... And for the record, I like Queen, just not in Utah."
Queen does present a ton of defensive upside that could end up being worth a considerable look for the Jazz solely based on their lapses from that end of the floor last season.
Yet, when paired next to Utah's existing frontcourt with the likes of Walker Kessler, rookie standout Kyle Filipowski, and even a former lottery pick in Taylor Hendricks coming back from injury this coming season, is investing in another versatile big defender the biggest need for this roster? For Miles, there could be other options worth eyeing.
Whether it be Duke's Kon Knueppel, Oklahoma's Jeremiah Fears, Texas' Tre Johnson, or even a dark horse candidate like Arizona's Carter Bryant, there's a lot of routes the Jazz could end up going on draft night. And this early in the process, it's as good as anyone's to predict how things could truly pan out for this team come late June.
Queen could still be one of those top options depending on how Utah's front office views his skillset, but with an unpredictable executive like Danny Ainge at the helm, there's always a world where Utah makes a drastic and unpredictable 180º turn ahead of their first-round selection.
Expect the Jazz to keep all doors open in the weeks leading up to when the 2025 NBA Draft officially gets underway on June 25th in Brooklyn, NY.
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