The New Orleans Pelicans are clearly nowhere near where they thought they would be before the NBA All-Star break. They’re out of playoff contention and are too far down in the standings to even qualify for the Play-In Tournament. Overall, they’re already in an extremely difficult situation—made even worse by a trade they made last summer that basically erased their hopes of building a contending team next season.
The Derik Queen Draft Trade
Right before the Pelicans’ 2025-26 NBA campaign began, the team’s head of basketball operations, Joe Dumars, believed they’d become a contender even with Dejounte Murray injured. Part of their plan to compete in the West was by trading their unprotected 2026 first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks to move up in the 2025 NBA Draft from 23 to secure Derik Queen with the No. 13 pick.
As of now, Queen has turned out to be a good choice. The former Maryland standout has already shown glimpses of becoming the next big thing in New Orleans. The 21-year-old rookie is averaging 12.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.0 steals per game, with a bit of an all-around game resembling superstar Nikola Jokic. Surprisingly, DQ is currently fourth in most Rookie of the Year ladders, behind Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, and V.J. Edgecombe.
Ditto for another Pelicans rookie, Jeremiah Fears, who’s averaging 13.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game.
The problem is, the first-rounder they traded last offseason to get Queen has a high chance of becoming a lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Odds are that it could even become the first overall pick, and that could ultimately turn out to be prospects Darryn Peterson, Cam Boozer, AJ Dybantsa, or Caleb Wilson.
What’s sadder is that the Pelicans don’t even have a second-round pick until 2030!
Time to Trade Zion?
The Pelicans are 15-41 through 56 games and are the second-worst team in the Western Conference. Even the Utah Jazz, who are trying so hard to hide that they’re tanking, have the better record and are at least looking like a good squad next season with the addition of Jaren Jackson Jr. and the development of Kyle Filipowski.
New Orleans, on the other hand, is in a tough position. They don’t have the draft capital at the moment, and they need to wait a bit before Queen and Fears bloom into legitimate stars.
Literally, the only way to get good draft picks in the future is via trade.
Other teams are reportedly interested in Trey Murphy III, and if they don’t play their cards right, NOLA could lose him without getting anything in return.
What they do have right now is Zion Williamson, who still at least has good stock in the market. Maybe it’s high time the Pelicans give up on the Zion project and focus more on Queen and Fears as their next cornerstones. The question now is, how can they flip Williamson for a bunch of picks or acquire the right pieces to build around Murphy, Queen, and Fears, or is Joe Dumars going to mess it all up again?
