Unfiltered NBA Scout’s Thoughts on Pelicans’ Derik Queen Experiment: ‘I Don’t See It’

Editor’s Note: For the upcoming Sports Illustrated 2026–27 basketball preview magazine that will hit newsstands in October, SI spoke to anonymous scouts around the NBA about all 30 teams.

The Pelicans had one of the more unique offseasons in the NBA.

Instead of making a big move to switch up their core, drafting a young prospect or signing an impact veteran, New Orleans stood pat. The Joe Dumars–led front office didn’t do anything notable until signing Bennedict Mathurin to a two-year contract worth $16 million in late August.

That means the Pelicans, coming off a 26–56 season, are running it back.

Once again, they’ll be led by former No. 1 pick Zion Williamson, who—believe it or not—is entering his eighth NBA season.

“Zion is capable of being a big-time threat offensively,” an anonymous NBA scout told Sports Illustrated. “He can do a couple things in terms of catching a drive going left, and his second jump on offensive glass is unreal. Those are two things he does as well as anybody. So he does have some weapons. However, he’s a terrible defender and doesn’t try. But he’s not the only one who made it in the league like that, so he has to be a threat offensively.”

Anonymous scouts break down each Western Conference team: Clippers | Grizzlies | Jazz | Kings | Lakers | Mavericks | Nuggets | Pelicans | Rockets | Spurs | Suns | Thunder | Timberwolves | Trail Blazers | Warriors

Williamson missed 20 games last season, but it went down as the second-healthiest campaign of his career. He’s played over 30 games in a season just three times: a career-high 70 in 2023–24, 62 last season and 61 in 2020–21.

“Reliability’s still an issue [with Zion],” a scout told SI. “But then I think the biggest issue with him is how do you use him? Where do you play him? What do you run? Who do you put around him to allow him to unlock those two things that he does the best? And I’m not even sure what the answer is, to be honest, but getting him catches at the elbow with a little bit of space would be my first guess. To do that, you’re going to have to have some shooting around him, and those guys that are around him shooting have to be able to play some defense because he’s not going to run back and do it himself.

“If he could get one dribble to the rim with space where he can either get to his left hand or get to his right hand and spin back, he’s a problem for sure.”

One of those guys the Pelicans handpicked to play alongside Williamson is second-year center Derik Queen. New Orleans paid a hefty price—the No. 23 pick and a 2026 unprotected first-round pick (which turned out to be No. 8 pick Kingston Flemings)—to trade up draft Queen at No. 13 in 2025.

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As a rookie, Queen had a solid year, logging 11.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. But he’s got plenty of room for improvement. And at least one NBA scout doesn’t like his fit with Williamson.

“They invested a lot in Derik Queen, but I don’t see it,” the scout told SI. “I have a low, low opinion. He doesn’t seem like a real high-motor guy when you watch him in pregame or in the game. I thought he had some fake numbers from the start of the season that he got a little bit of hype on. I don’t think he’s that good. Again, I could be wrong, but when he’s at his best, it feels like you have to play through him, and if you’re playing through him, that means Zion is a liability because he’s not defending and he doesn’t have the ball in his hands, so I don’t think they’re a great fit together for that reason.”

One of the bright spots of the Pelicans’ 26-win campaign was the rise of Jeremiah Fears, who New Orleans drafted six spots ahead of Queen at No. 7 in 2025. Fears registered 14.3 points on 43.4% shooting from the floor as a rookie and ended the year scoring a whopping 40, 36 and 36 points in his final three games. He’s got potential to be great.

“Fears is interesting,” the scout told SI. “He was kind of in that mold where I expect [the Kings’] Darius Acuff Jr. to be—high risk, low efficiency. But you get a year under your belt, maybe he can turn that around a little bit and slow down and use the good skills that he has. But we’ll see. We’ll see what he does.”

Offseason recap

Who’s in: Bennedict Mathurin
Who’s out: Jordan Hawkins, Kevon Looney, Micah Peavy

Aside from adding Mathurin, the Pels also re-signed DeAndre Jordan to a two-year contract. Jordan was voted the NBA’s Teammate of the Year winner despite playing in just 12 games last season. New Orleans also lost Kevon Looney, who ventured to Los Angeles to join Luka Dončić and the Lakers.

NEXT: We Simulated the 2026-27 Season 100 Times on NBA 2K27. Here Are the Results.

SI’s prediction for 2026–27 season

Record: 29–53 | Predicting the 2026–27 NBA Standings: Which Teams Will Rise, Fall and Surprise?

The West is just too stacked for a team undergoing an experiment. Even if Queen and Fears take big leaps, it’s probably not enough for the Pels to make even a play-in tournament run.

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