Former Maryland basketball star Derik Queen draws All Rookie Team honors

Ahmed Ghafir
May 20
2 min read

Former Maryland center Derik Queen has ended his rookie season with an accolade after being named to the All-Rookie Second Team.

In 48 starts and 81 appearances, Queen averaged 11.7 points and 7.1 rebounds while shooting 47.3% from the floor. Queen became a full-time starter back on Nov. 16 while he finished the regular season with three consecutive double-doubles, including tying his career high with 30 points and setting a new one with 22 rebounds in 41 minutes in the finale vs. Minnesota.

He also ended the season with 13 double-doubles, two 30-point games and scored at least 20 points in 11 games. His first triple double materialized against the San Antonio Spurs after posting 33 points, ten rebounds and ten assists in December before adding 14 points, 12 assists and 16 rebounds against his hometown Wizards team the following month.

Queen’s production would tail off for the bulk for the final two months of the season, a struggle that Pelicans president of basketball ops Joe Dumars cautioned would come during his rookie season.

Of course, Queen’s selection is notable for Pelicans fans given the front office traded this year’s first round pick in order to acquire the former Maryland star. Dumars quickly rationalized the draft night trade that drew skepticism after pointing to Queen as the type of player he covets.

“Obviously I like tough guys, I like that aggressive tough guy, but you got to have an IQ,” Dumars said of Queen. “You can't just be tough and nothing else. And I’d put his IQ in the game up against anybody in this draft. Like this is a super, super high IQ guy finds people has the mentality of a guard, will push it up. He's just got unique skills for a 6-[foot]-10 kid. And that really appealed to me to have someone on the court like that. Look, you call those guys connectors. They can connect everybody on the court with the way they play. Super unselfish. You win with guys like that.”

Year two will be an adjustment for Queen and the Pelicans after the organization moved on from Willie Green just 12 games into the regular season. While New Orlenas finished 26-56 overall, Jamahl Mosley has since been named the new head coach after spending the previous five seasons leading the Orlando Magic.

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