Derik Queen is already thinking bigger than basketball.
The New Orleans Pelicans big man said one of his deepest goals is to open a homeless shelter in Baltimore, his hometown, and use it to help people rebuild their lives. He laid out the idea during an appearance on the Cousins Podcast, and the vision is clearly personal.
“I want to have a shelter for homeless people and get them back on their feet, but they work the shelter. But have my mom or one of my closest friends, or whoever the case may be, oversee it. But I want to get them back on their feet.”
Queen said the issue hits him every time he’s back home, describing how hard it is to keep seeing people living on the streets in Baltimore.
“I want to own a whotel, a CDL. That’s right now.
That’s about it. Just like, it just hurts my soul, just seeing people.
Just like yesterday, I took the same way twice. I went back to the gym, and I seen the same dude.
He had no leg. It wasn’t clean.”
He also pointed to what he’s heard about shelters in Baltimore charging very small nightly fees, though he made clear that wouldn’t be his approach.
“And then I see that a lot in Baltimore, but they make people-I think it’s like a dollar. I think it was like a long time ago, my mother told me it was like between a dollar or $5, like, a night and stuff.
But I ain’t going to charge nobody. Like, they was telling me, like, the state will help you with it or something.
But my goal is to get them back on their feet.”
“We’ll have, like, my mother or someone run it the first year, like the cleaning and stuff.”
Queen’s plan goes beyond just giving people a place to sleep. He wants the shelter to be a place where residents can help maintain the facility while getting the support they need to move forward.
He has also talked about other long-term business goals, including owning a hotel. But the shelter idea clearly carries the most weight for him.
That ambition comes at a time when Queen is already in a position to chase it. He signed a four-year rookie contract worth approximately $24.3 million with the Pelicans in July 2025, with the first two seasons guaranteed and the final two seasons as team options.
On the court, the rookie has also made a strong early impression. He averaged 11.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists while shooting 47.3% from the field, quickly becoming an important young piece for New Orleans.
Still, Queen’s comments made it clear that basketball is only part of the picture. For the Baltimore native, the bigger mission is giving back to the community that shaped him - and building something meant to help people get back on their feet.
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