As New Orleans Pelicans rookie Derik Queen needs redemption after what he thought-about to be a down efficiency, one who thought comparatively the identical was NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor. With Queen chosen by the Pelicans within the 2025 NBA Draft with the thirteenth general decide, his Summer season League debut on Friday within the 98-91 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves was when that introduced many crimson flags to O’Connor.
He would converse on his self-titled podcast concerning the outing as Queen scored 13 factors on 5 of 9 capturing from the sphere to associate with 10 rebounds and 7 turnovers. O’Connor would say that Queen “regarded actually overwhelmed,” and even point out how he “regarded lazy not getting again on protection.”
“I believed Derik Queen regarded actually overwhelmed,” O’Connor mentioned. “He regarded slow-footed, he regarded lazy not getting again on protection. He had seven turnovers within the recreation. For a man that the Pelicans traded up for ten spots to go get by giving up an unprotected 2026 first-round decide from themselves. I imply it’s simply recreation one and he’s simply going to be a rookie.”
“You’re not going to overreact, however I didn’t like what I noticed from Derik Queen in that recreation from a physique language perspective,” O’Connor continued. “He got here into the NBA Draft Mix in Might out of practice. There’s lots of crimson flags right here with Queen, and I’ve my considerations. And out of all the blokes that interviewed again in Might, I believed he was the least mature mentally as nicely.”
Pelicans’ Derik Queen on the lookout for “redemption”
Speaking about how the Pelicans traded up considerably to get Queen, O’Connor wouldn’t be a fan of the trouble proven in his Summer season League debut. Nevertheless, Queen feels comparatively the identical method, saying he’s trying to find “redemption” coming off the efficiency, in keeping with NOLA.com.
“Simply on the lookout for redemption. I’ve bought to redeem myself. I do know I’ve bought 82 video games. However I do know Twitter and possibly Instagram are going loopy proper now. I’ve simply bought to redeem myself for me and (to quiet) all the skin noise.”
Nonetheless, Queen has immense expertise that would doubtlessly be a constructing block for New Orleans within the close to future, however there is no denying that the teaching employees and the rookie himself need to see a greater outing.
“I really feel like I’ve this recreation beneath my belt, and I really feel like I’m going to be nice subsequent recreation,” Queen mentioned. “… It was kinda sloppy within the first half. However a double-double is a double-double. I feel I flipped the swap within the second half. I really feel like I bought the cling of it now.”
At any charge, Queen appears to redeem himself within the Pelicans’ subsequent Summer season League recreation in opposition to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday.