Injury Could be Early Setback for Pelicans’ Rookie

At the 2025 NBA Draft, the New Orleans Pelicans made the unpopular decision to trade back up into the lottery and nab Maryland standout Derik Queen at No. 13.

Queen was thought of to be a lottery talent by many, but offloading a 2026 first was seen as a brazen move for New Orleans by several other organizations. Still, the team left with one of the more talented bigs in the class, one they obviously believe in given the assets used.

Things were derailed somewhat though, as Queen suffered a wrist injury in Summer League that’s set to keep him out for 12 weeks before re-evaluation.

Queen’s already had surgery, and the injury isn’t set to have any long-term effects, but it could lead to a slower start than previously thought for Queen.

At around 6-foot-9, the former five-star starred for the Terrapins as a true freshman, averaging 16.5 points, nine rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 53% overall in leading them to an NCAA Tournament berth. He then parlayed that into early professional success, going for 14 points, 11 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game across three NBA games.

Opposed to most other big prospects, Queen uses his skill and feel for the game to thrive rather than tools and athleticism. He has suave interior scoring, elite passing and play-making in the frontcourt and fairly mobile skillset on defense. While that's definitely not a bad thing — with several talented NBA bigs like Nikola Jokic, Domantas Sabonis, Alperen Sengun and more using the same style — it can certainly be harder to assimilate to the big league without athletic fallback skills.

Now, Queen's set to miss a vital offseason and potentially preseason where he could be learning the NBA ropes. If his NBA start was set to be slow before, it could be set back even further now.

The good news is that Queen's skillset still lends itself well to the NBA. And having suffered a wrist injury, he'll still be able to condition himself overall, a potentially important factor given the jump from college to the NBA.

For now, the Pelicans wait patiently for what should be a fun 2025-26 campaign with Queen and fellow rookie Jeremiah Fears.