Derik Queen’s first night of the season gave the Pelicans exactly the kind of reminder they probably didn’t want: talent is only part of the equation.
New Orleans opened its campaign Wednesday night with a tough loss to the Indiana Pacers, and Queen’s role was enough to stand out. He came off the bench, which was fine.
The bigger issue was the amount of time he got. Queen played just 18:05, a sign that Jamahl Mosley was not fully sold on what he was seeing.
The Pelicans have already made a real investment in Queen, trading a first-round pick for him during the draft last year. He flashed star potential at times last season, but on Opening Night, he wasn’t in Mosley’s circle of trust for long stretches. Mosley leaned on the players he believed gave him the best chance to win, and Queen simply wasn’t always in that group.
That puts the pressure where it belongs: on Queen.
New Orleans needs him to become a real piece. Queen needs minutes to get there. So the burden is on him to make Mosley keep him on the floor.
There were positives in the fourth quarter before he was taken out with 7:02 left. Queen helped on the glass, but he also piled up mistakes that made his case harder to build. He allowed Tyrese Haliburton to finish an and-one dunk, picked up an offensive foul that gave the ball away, and then fouled Haliburton again, sending him to the line for two free throws.
It wasn’t a bad night across the board, but it also wasn’t the sort of performance that forces a coach’s hand while a game is still hanging in the balance.
Queen finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, one assist and two steals. He hit 2-of-4 shots from the field and was perfect at the line, going 6-of-6 from the free-throw stripe.
That ability to get to the charity stripe will keep him in the conversation. Still, if he wants steady minutes from Mosley, he’s going to have to be sharper on both ends. And if the Pelicans want to trust him late in games, he’ll have to be even more dependable when the pressure climbs.
There’s plenty of time for that development to happen. Queen is still extremely young, just in his second NBA season, and he won’t turn 22 until the very end of December.
But the path forward is simple. He needs minutes to grow, and to get those minutes, he has to prove he deserves them.
In Other News...
Pelicans Suddenly Have A Real Center Debate On Their Hands
The Pelicans left their matchup with Indiana having something every staff would rather have than a one-sided answer at center: a real conversation. Yves Missi looked much more settled than he did in preseason, bringing energy on the glass, protecting the rim and even flashing a little passing ability while carving out a bigger role in the paint. For a team trying to sort out its rotation, that kind of step forward matters.
Derik Queen also gave New Orleans a different kind of case to weigh, playing with more discipline than he had in earlier games and doing enough across the board to stay in the mix. He kept his shot attempts under control, avoided the kind of loose stretches that can get a young big in trouble, and still impacted the game on both ends. The Pelicans may not have a final answer yet, but they suddenly have two centers making it hard to look away. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Let A Vulnerable Pacers Team Escape New Orleans
The Pelicans had a chance to put a vulnerable Indiana team in a tough spot early, and for stretches they did exactly that. New Orleans pushed the pace, put the Pacers on their heels in the second quarter and looked capable of turning the opener into a statement win before Indiana steadied itself and worked back into the game.
Tyrese Haliburton was right at the center of the response, giving the Pacers the kind of orchestration they needed in his first meaningful action in well over a year. He paired playmaking with scoring to keep Indiana connected, while the road team eventually found enough balance to escape New Orleans with a win and leave the Pelicans to wonder how a promising start slipped away. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Loss Still Revealed Something Fans Needed To See
A season opener that ends in a 123-120 loss can leave a team with a long list of what-ifs, but New Orleans still walked away with something worth keeping. Zion Williamson played with a level of conviction that had to stand out to anyone watching, finishing with 22 points and taking key shots late, while Dejounte Murray led the way with 23 points and a steady two-way impact that gave the Pelicans a real backbone for stretches of the night.
There were also encouraging signs deeper in the rotation, with Jeremiah Fears, Derik Queen and Yves Missi all turning in notable minutes against Indiana. The bigger takeaway for New Orleans is less about the final score and more about the way the offense looked with Williamson willing to assert himself when the game tightened, a development fans have been waiting to see carry over into meaningful moments. [Read more 🡒]