Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen do not need to become Chris Paul and Anthony Davis right away, but New Orleans can still use those second-year leaps as a measuring stick. The two best players in Pelicans history set a high bar in Year 2, and that makes them useful reference points for where Fears and Queen should be headed.
Fears already gave the Pelicans plenty to like as a rookie. He played all 82 games, averaged 14.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists, and finished fourth among rookies in scoring and seventh in assists. The speed, confidence, and creativity were all there - the kind of traits a lead guard has to show if he’s going to run an NBA offense.
Paul’s second season came in a very different setup. He was 21 years old and had already spent two years at Wake Forest before reaching the league.
Fears, by contrast, played one season at Oklahoma and spent his entire rookie year as a teenager. Paul was also the clear focal point of a team built around him, while Fears is working alongside veterans with lottery-pick backgrounds and playoff experience.
That matters when setting expectations. Paul’s Year 2 line - 17.3 points, 8.9 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.8 steals, with shooting splits of 43.7 percent overall and 35 percent from three - is not the benchmark Fears should be asked to copy.
But the direction is the point. A good sophomore year for Fears would mean pushing his numbers to around 17 points and five assists a night, improving his shooting, and cutting down on the bad decisions.
His scoring already draws defensive attention; the next step is turning that attention into cleaner looks for everyone else.
Queen’s rookie season gave New Orleans a different kind of intrigue. He posted 11.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists while flashing the uncommon handling and passing that make him such a fascinating offensive player. The flip side was obvious too: he shot only 26.1 percent from three and had defensive issues.
That’s where the Anthony Davis comparison gets tricky. Davis exploded in Year 2, jumping from 13.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks?
No - the source notes his rookie numbers as 13.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks, then a second-season surge to 20.8 points, 10 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks. He made the All-Star team at 20 and finished among the top Defensive Player of the Year candidates.
Queen’s path is not that path. Davis arrived as a generational defensive prospect and athlete whose offense quickly expanded, while Queen came in as a polished offensive creator who still has to firm up his floor game and build a defensive base.
For Queen, a strong second season would look more like 15 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, with his field goal percentage climbing close to 50 percent. The box score matters, but not as much as the work behind it: conditioning, positioning, pick-and-roll defense, and smarter decisions.
The comparisons are ambitious, but the expectations in New Orleans are serious. Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver clearly see more than just two useful rotation pieces. By the end of Year 2, the Pelicans need to see Fears trending toward becoming a starting point guard on a winning team and Queen developing into a complete frontcourt player, not just an intriguing offensive weapon.
That would count as real progress, even if neither one is anywhere close to matching the second-year numbers of two future Hall of Famers.
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