The Pelicans and Hawks have agreed to a trade that will send the No. 13 overall pick from Atlanta to New Orleans in exchange for No. 23 overall and a 2026 first-round pick, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). The 2026 first-rounder is unprotected and will be the most favorable of the Pelicans’ and Bucks’ picks.
The Pelicans are using that newly acquired pick to draft Maryland big man Derik Queen, per Charania (Twitter link).
Queen was highly productive in his freshman season with the Terrapins, averaging 16.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks in 30.4 minutes per contest across 36 total games. He helped guide Maryland to a 27-9 record and a spot in the Sweet 16, scoring 27 points in a loss to Florida.
While Queen is perhaps the most offensively gifted big man in the 2025 draft class, reports during the pre-draft process indicated some NBA evaluators had concerns about his lack of length and explosiveness, as well as some questions about what types of players he would guard on defense.
Still, he’s an intriguing addition for a New Orleans team that badly needs frontcourt depth to complement 2024 first-rounder Yves Missi and ranked last in the NBA in defensive rebounding percentage this post season, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets.
Reporting earlier today from Jonathan Givony of ESPN suggested the Pelicans had their eye on Queen in part to new front office executive Troy Weaver, who has “long-standing connections” to Baltimore- and D.C.-area prospects, and whose son was a graduate assistant on Maryland’s coaching staff in 2024/25.
As for the Hawks, after agreeing to trade the No. 22 overall pick to Brooklyn in their three-team Kristaps Porzingis deal, they’ll now move down 10 spots from No. 13 and end up in that range once again.
Meanwhile, the 2026 first-rounder they’re acquiring from New Orleans could end up being a valuable one. The Bucks will be missing Damian Lillard as he recovers from a torn Achilles and Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s future in Milwaukee still isn’t a certainty, while the Pelicans are coming off a 21-win season. The most favorable of those two teams’ picks could easily land in the top half of the first round.