Trey Murphy III can’t help but reiterate how good Derrick Quinn is
During the NBA All-Star weekend, one of the participants in the Rising Star Game was New Orleans Pelicans rookie forward Derrick Queen. Queen is enjoying a strong season with the Pelicans as one of the best rookies in the NBA. A Pelicans teammate, actually Trey Murphy III I can’t help it but keep raving about himaccording to Spencer Davis of R.org.
“He’s really freaking good,” Murphy said. “Sorry to swear, but he’s really fucking good. As much as I talk s**t about him, I’m also trying to lift him up because what he does is really special. It’s really dope.”
No. 13 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, the Pelicans almost didn’t get a chance to draft Derrick Quinn. Queen was part of a draft trade involving the Atlanta Hawks in which the Pelicans received the second lottery pick they used to select the Maryland big man.
Trade also came at a high price. It cost the Pelicans their first-round pick in the 2026 NBA draft, a draft that would go down as one of the best in recent memory. The Pelicans are on pace to make a top five pick in the upcoming draft. That pick will be dealt to the Hawks, giving Atlanta a chance to grab a potential franchise-changing talent in a big deal.
But if Queen continues his current trajectory, then maybe the gamble was worth it for the Pelicans. He appeared in 55 games, including 43 starts, averaging about 26 minutes per game. He averaged 12.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.0 steals while shooting 49.1 percent from the field, 27.8 percent from the 3-point line and 77.7 percent from the free throw line.
Although the Pelicans have had quite a few disappointing seasons of late, it appears that they have two solid building blocks in Queen and fellow rookie Jeremiah Fears. Fears was also selected to participate in the Rising Stars competition.
2026-02-16 21:15:00
