The Pelicans have been slugging through another disappointing season that has already seen the organization fire head coach Willie Green. One bright spot for the Pelicans though has been the play of rookie forward Derik Queen, who recently added to his list of early highlights with a steal and a slam dunk against the Atlanta Hawks.

The Pelicans were already on their way to their ninth straight loss as they trailed by close to 20 points to the Hawks as the fourth quarter winded down. Hawks guard Vit Krejci was dribbling out the clock as the game was about to come to a close. But Derik Queen, who obviously believes in the mantra of ‘play hard until the buzzer rings,’ snuck up on Krejci, came up with a steal, and proceeded to go coast to coast and finish with a slam dunk.

The outcome of the game was not in doubt, but Pelicans fans will no doubt be enamored with Queen’s no-quit attitude. During the Pelicans’ early struggles, Queen has already separated himself as a player that’s worth building around. He began the season not getting much playing time, but since he’s been in the rotation he has produced like you would expect from a lottery pick.

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Queen has appeared in 16 games, including four starts, at a little over 23 minutes per game. He’s been averaging 12.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.1 steals with splits of 49.3 percent shooting from the field, 14.3 percent shooting from the three-point line and 75 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

The No. 13 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, the Pelicans ended up trading up in the draft with the Hawks to be able to selected Queen. The move is still considered risky by some as the team gave up an unprotected first round pick to acquire Queen. The Pelicans are on their way to one of the worst records in the league, and the Hawks could be in the running for the No. 1 pick in 2026.

But in any case, Queen is already looking like a legitimate franchise cornerstone.