Former Maryland star Derik Queen sidelined "at least 12 weeks" after impressing during NBA Summer League

Ahmed Ghafir
Jul 18
2 min read

Derik Queen’s official NBA debut may be on hold after the New Orleans Pelicans announced the rookie big is sidelined for at least the next three months.

The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that forward/center Derik Queen underwent successful surgery to address a torn scapholunate ligament in his left wrist. The surgery was performed this morning by Dr. Steven Shin in Los Angeles, California. Queen sustained the injury during the Pelicans’ Summer League contest against the Portland Trail Blazers on July 15. He will be re-evaluated in approximately 12 weeks,” the team announced on Friday.

Queen is coming off three consecutive double-double performances in the 2025 NBA Summer League, averaging 14 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 43.8% from the field. Queen did lead the team with eight turnovers vs. Portland and tied fellow first-round selection Jeremiah Fears for a team-high seven turnovers vs. Minnesota as the Pelicans dropped all three games.

But after Queen pushed back on criticism the Pelicans received for the draft day trade that sent an unprotected 2026 first-round pick away in order to draft Queen, the former Maryland star drew praise from Pelicans assistant Corey Brewer ahead of summer league.

“He’s a big dude, he can shoot it, he can pass, he can playmake.”

“Here's what I've said to staff, when you identify a player that you think this can be one of the foundations here, you go and get him. And that's what we did,” GM Joe Dumars said following the first round of the NBA Draft. “I mean, like we targeted [Derik] Queen. We thought he could be a heck of an addition here and we were really aggressive about going and getting him in this draft.”

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