One offseason trade ensured that Joe Dumars will be under a microscope for as long as he's employed by the Pelicans, or they continue struggling, whichever ends first. Some say it's malpractice for a young, inexperienced team to trade its future unprotected first-round pick in a 2026 draft that appears generational, no matter how good the player you get in return is. Your take on that is subjective. What isn't up for debate is the fact that Derik Queen made history last night.
Derik Queen 33 PTS (11/15 FG, 11/13 FT), 10 REB, 10 AST, 4 BLK, +14 pic.twitter.com/90nbldLdf9
— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) December 9, 2025
Queen joined Stephen Curry, Blake Griffin, Luka Dončić, and Austin Reaves (he's always been good, huh?) as the only rookies to post a 30-point triple-double since 2000. Queen also added four menacing blocks. Say what you want about the trade, but there's no denying Queen is the goods offensively, and there's a path for him to become a serviceable defender.
For the trade to be seen in a better hindsight light, Queen needs to continue developing. He has a chance to be better than anyone the Atlanta Hawks draft with the Pelicans pick, but will he? Joe Dumars has something in his two rookies, including Jeremiah Fears. Surrounding this duo with grit and shooting is a must. In a perfect world, Queen is an MVP-level player like Nikola Jokić, who his game is often compared to. Time will tell if he gets to that level, but he is a problem already.
Derik Queen has the talent to save Joe Dumars
There's not much to nitpick in Queen's offensive approach besides his lack of range shooting. He's not a traditional big whatsoever. Queen derives from the Alperen Şengün, Domantas Sabonis, and Jokić school of thought. These are point centers who dominate the game with their passing chops, mean post-ups, and high IQ.
Queen is slimmer than his predecessors, but don't mistake that for weakness. Queen drilled the 7-foot Slenderman Luke Kornet in his chest without hesitation to convert this and-1.
Along with Queen's aggressiveness as an attacker, he is nimble and has a soft touch on post shots. Queen ballerina spins on his pivot with the best of them, and he's patient enough to spin until he has an advantage.
Creating advantage through passing is a trademark of Queen. He's a legit option to run the offense every night. He's looking to involve others while he wears out his matchup time and time again. Queen has full court, pocket, off-hand, leading, and out of double teams passes in his game. He'll need to be more efficient on post-ups to continue drawing doubles, but Queen is on his way offensively.
Queen's archetype has not churned out an elite defender yet. Şengün, Sabonis, and Jokić are all serviceable defenders in their own ways, but they don't play defense like traditional centers. These guys will never be the greatest rim protectors, and you need to surround them with a beasting defender who can take tough matchups while they use their IQ to be in the correct position as rim help.
Jokić is the only one who's proven this archetype can be on top. Sabonis-led teams aren't playoff movers, and Şengün is too young to tell. Is this point-center archetype more valuable than the up-and-coming prospects?
Queen must be better than anybody the Atlanta Hawks draft
The main disconnect most had with the Pelicans' draft move is how stacked the 2026 draft class is shaping up to be (and how bad New Orleans would be this season). AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, and Cam Boozer would all be No. 1 picks in nine out of the past 10 drafts. With the Pelicans' losing record, that pick to Atlanta could be a top-three pick.
For Queen to help Dumars make the world forget about that trade like Men in Black, Queen has to be a dominant presence and sort of Jokić-like. Jokić has been one of the best players in the league for over a half-decade. His impact has outweighed super scorers for a while now.
If Queen is better than those three all-around can't-miss prospects, he'll be putting up his historic stat line from last night on the regular. Maybe not the blocks, but Queen will need to be a triple-double stat-stuffing monster that impacts the game in a winning way. Queen can maximize his value by shooting the 3.
The 3-ball (plus a myriad of other things) sets Jokić apart from his copycats. His lethal trey ball puts teams in a bind, and they often end up conceding a 3 to a 41 percent volume shooter. Queen needs that to offset the two-way capabilities the top three in this draft have. Even if Queen isn't better than whoever Atlanta selects with their pick, Dumars can surround Queen and Fears properly.
Pelicans have assets
Joe Dumars inherited a team with two-way wings. Good for him. That's still one of the most valuable archetypes league-wide. If he strips this thing down right, maybe he never hears about this draft fiasco again.
Trey Murphy and Herb Jones would incite bidding wars if they were put on the open market. We know New Orleans doesn't have this upcoming first-round pick, but they could trade Murphy and Jones and stockpile draft picks. You need shooting and versatile defenders around this young duo. The Pelicans could do this through the draft if they acquire decent picks.
Troy Weaver is the GM in NOLA and showed the ability to have rock star drafts in Detroit. How Dumars and Weaver handle this Zion Williamson elephant in the room is make or break. Williamson's value has been stagnant for a while. Teams won't be intrigued if he puts together a stretch of hoops because he's done that before and gotten hurt again.
Do they trade him now while his value can't be lower? It depends on what you can get for him, but this saga needs to be put to rest as soon as possible. Queen is their future, and Fears can be a good partner in crime, last game notwithstanding.
Dumars has his plate full, but he asked for this when making a trade like that. He can erase this nightmare if Queen reaches his potential and the team building around him is proper. That ball is in your court, Dumars.