Derik Queen has been one of the only positive players for the New Orleans Pelicans so far this season, but unfortunately there is more to it than that. Through no fault of the rookie, the Pelicans sent the Hawks an unprotected 2026 first-round pick to trade 10 spots for him. Atlanta could exit the draft lottery with the No. 1 pick, and that of Christopher Kline latest trial design for FanSidedthat’s what happened.
In the mock draft, the Hawks selected Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, giving them a Trae Young replacement as they have yet to sign the 27-year-old guard to an extension.
The fact that New Orleans essentially gave Atlanta a high lottery pick is hard to believe as the hype surrounding the freshman class grows by the day. The 2026 lottery could produce a few future NBA All-Stars, but the Pelicans weren’t thinking about that when they sent their Hawks their pick. Who knows what was going through Joe Dumars’ mind?
New Orleans is 2-13 this season. Even at full strength, it would have taken a miracle for the Pelicans to reach the playoffs in a deep conference, but to start the season, Zion Williamson has played just six games. He returned Wednesday after missing a few weeks with a hamstring strain. However, it will take much more than a healthy Zion to help change New Orleans.
Hawks have been ranked the No. 1 pick in FanSided’s latest NBA mock draft
As mentioned, Queen was great. Take it from Nikola Jokič, who said he sees something of himself in Queen, and that’s quite a compliment. The Pelicans had two 2025 lottery picks, Queen and Jeremiah Fears, and both have performed well so far. Still, New Orleans will need Queen to turn into a superstar to justify giving up a pick that could end up being the top selection in a stacked draft.
What makes matters worse is that Atlanta was eyeing Asa Newell at No. 13, and he was still on the board at No. 23 after the trade. The Hawks got the player they wanted, and ended up with an extra pick in the first round. Talk about being lucky.
If only there was a way for Pelicans fans to block out all the talk about the 2026 draft, but that would be impossible. It will only continue to grow, just like college basketball just now started.
Losing is never fun, but unfortunately that has become the norm in New Orleans. Fans are used to looking ahead to the draft, even at the start of the NBA season, but they can’t even do that. The Hawks, who are fifth in the East, may do that instead.
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