Derik Queen responds to NBA Draft criticism: "most of those guys, I beat on in high school"

Ahmed Ghafir
Jun 28
2 min read

Maryland men’s basketball potentially produced three NBA players from the ‘Crab Five’ after Julian Reese and Selton Miguel signed with the Lakers and Jazz as undrafted free agents on Friday. But the newest NBA selection that draw the loudest noise was Derik Queen, though it was more about the process than the player.

The Pelicans’ selection of Queen with the 13th overall selection drew widespread criticism across NBA media following day one of the 2025 NBA Draft, specifically for New Orleans’ decision to send the 23rd overall pick and an unprotected 2026 first-round pick to Atlanta in order to move up ten spots. To make matters worse, Atlanta receives the more favorable first-round pick between Milwaukee and Atlanta.

Bill Simmons called the move “one of the five dumbest trades of this decade,” which didn’t steer too far from what another general manager said after calling it “worst trade, non-Luka division, that we’ve seen in at least a decade.” Another anonymous GM told The Athletic's John Hollinger, "thanks, but I'd rather be the team that traded Derik Queen for AJ Dybantsa."

Derik Queen has heard it all. And though the criticism is directed more toward Dumars and the organization, the newest Pelican shot back at criticism.

"I'm going to say here, I don't think nobody in that [2026] class is ever going to be better than me," Queen said. "So, I block all the noise out. He’s got a lot of faith in me,” Queen said of general manager Joe Dumars. “Most of those guys, I beat on in high school so it [doesn’t] really matter. I just got to continue. I know the NBA is a whole different level, so just got to continue getting better, don't get too big-headed, don't get too low. Just beat on them next year when they come in and make Joe look like a genius."

Queen became the program’s first NBA draft selection since Aaron Wiggins in 2021 and the first first-round pick since Jalen Smith, another Baltimore native, went tenth overall in 2020.

“It means a lot to show how much they wanted me, how much they believed in me. I’m just ready to show them like they got their money worth,” Queen said about the trade on draft night.

Related Links