Pelicans Are Still Draft Lottery Losers Despite Avoiding Worst-Case Scenario

It could have been worse for the Pelicans in the draft lottery, but New Orleans left Sunday among the biggest losers.

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The New Orleans Pelicans saved some face at the NBA Draft Lottery on Sunday by not giving up a top-four pick to the Atlanta Hawks due to last year's Derik Queen trade. They ended up sending Atlanta the No. 8 pick despite there being a 29.3% chance that the Hawks could jump into the top four. That would have reflected very poorly on the Pelicans, so it's safe to say that they somewhat dodged a bullet.

In reality, however, the Pelicans still left the draft lottery as one of the biggest losers of the day. The reason for that is another trade that New Orleans made last year that went under the radar.

Pelicans Could Have Had the No. 5 and No. 8 Pick in the 2026 NBA Draft

During the 2025 NBA Finals, the Pelicans, who had Indiana's unprotected 2026 first-rounder, traded this pick back to the Pacers for the 23rd pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. This was an understandable move at the time, as Indiana was in the Finals and looked like it would be a contender for a long time. Getting the No. 23 pick that year over what would be a similar pick a year later made some sense.

Until Tyrese Haliburton tore his Achilles tendon in Game 7. The Pacers took a gap year in the 2025-26 season and finished with the second-worst record in the league. They ended up with the fifth-overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, which had already been traded to the Clippers in the Ivica Zubac trade. So, the Pelicans ended up trading the No. 5 pick in 2026 for the No. 23 pick in 2025.

What did the Pelicans do with that 23rd-overall pick? They attached it to their unprotected 2026 first-rounder (which turned out to be the No. 8 pick) and sent it to Atlanta for their No. 13 pick to select Derik Queen.

If Joe Dumars hadn't made any trades after taking over in April 2025, the Pelicans would currently have the No. 5 and the No. 8 pick in the upcoming draft. If anything, the No. 8 pick could have been even higher because the Pelicans would have an incentive to tank to maximize their lottery odds.

Instead, the Pelicans have Derik Queen and no first-round picks in the 2026 NBA Draft. This isn't to say that Queen can't turn into a star. He had his moments as a rookie, but he also had a concerning defensive tape. Even if Queen exceeds all expectations, the complete misevaluation by Dumars & Co is unforgivable.

If we were to focus on the bright side, at least the Pelicans don't have any first-rounders in the draft for the front office to mess up. There is, of course, the possibility that New Orleans trades back into the first round. Pelicans fans have no choice but to hope that Dumars does a better job negotiating this time around.