Standout rookies Jeremiah Fears (left) and Derik Queen have shown flashes of stardom in 2025-26.
The exhilaration of a five-game winning streak in the middle of December has fizzled with the New Orleans Pelicans’ nine consecutive losses since then. Injuries have bit hard, costing them 124 man-games already and limiting them to just one game with their Opening Night starting lineup.
At 8-31, the Pelicans rank near the bottom in efficiency ratings: 26th offensively, 27th defensively and 27th in net rating. They haven’t benefited from the home/road disparity in their schedule (23/16) as they head to Washington Friday (7 p.m., NBA League Pass).
New Orleans is alone in making a coaching change for cause this season (Portland moved Tiago Splitter into Chauncey Billups’ role pending Billups’ off-court issues). Yet the switch from Willie Green at 2-10 to James Borrego’s 6-21 hasn’t changed much in any lasting way nor lifted the Pelicans off the Western Conference’s floor.
We’ll pause here before we hit misery overload to focus on two bright spots in the team’s predicament: rookies Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears. The former is an unassuming, versatile center from Maryland, the latter a high-velocity point guard out of Oklahoma.
Both have earned starting spots that would be legitimate even with healthier veterans on board. And both have been regulars on NBA.com’s Kia Rookie Ladder, the weekly rankings in which New Orleans is the only franchise to consistently place multiple players. (In the current edition, Queen ranks fourth, Fears eighth.)
“We looked at the lottery and said, ‘Wow, it’d be great if we could get both of those guys, and it may cost us,’” Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars told ESPN in November. “But if you truly believe they can be foundational pieces for your success long term, then we’ll do what we have to do.
“It simply came down to we have this guard that we really, really love and this young big that we really, really love.”
That love persists, through the season’s setbacks and disappointments thus far. Queen and Fears were acquired last June 25 with the idea they would be pieces of a brighter future in the Big Easy. But already, in the present, they have emerged as two positives, contributing beyond their years or experience.
Queen driven to prove his Draft status
Derik Queen became the 5th rookie to notch a 30-point triple-double (33 pts, 10 reb, 10 ast) before his 21st birthday.
A meme has been floating around social media this season, purporting to show the evolution of the modern NBA center. The three men depicted: the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić, the Houston Rockets’ Alperen Sengun and Queen
Lofty company sharing an elite skill set built around passing and intent, with Jokić’s validation by three Kia Most Valuable Player awards, Sengun showing out nightly and the newcomer Queen pulling back the curtain for flashes of where he’s headed.
“I definitely feel like there’s some similarities,” Queen told NBA.com before the Pelicans’ game in Chicago on New Year’s Eve. “It feels like I’m supposed to be doing it. Not at my size, but I mean, it feels natural. Then it’s working at it for some consistency. And just trying to learn the game and find holes to get my teammates open.”
The 6-foot-9 Queen leads the Class of 2025 in total rebounds, is second in assists to the Dallas Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg and ranks second in blocks and fourth in steals. He tops the rookies with seven double-doubles and is the only one with a triple-double, with 30 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and three blocks against San Antonio on Dec. 8. That night, Queen became the first rookie since Michael Jordan in 1985 to reach 10 field goals, 10 free throws, 10 boards and 10 assists in a game.
“The biggest thing is what he’s done with the ball in his hands,” Borrego said. “When he has the ball off a rebound, in transition, our points-per-possession have been pretty significant. I didn’t see that coming. … The hub he has been for us has been big in the halfcourt, too. To play through him a full half, a full quarter, to close out a game against the Spurs, I didn’t see that coming either, especially so early in his career.
“The poise he has shown – and he’s had some real pressure moments and he’s delivered. And the courage he plays with – sometimes he’s a little too risky, but the courage to go make a play and believe in himself, that’s not easy for a young guy.”
Queen is doing it all at center, where he’s a bit undersized but continues to overachieve.
“A lot of people try to call me a four, but I don’t think that’s my position,” he said. “I feel like I can guard a five. Outrebound most of them.”
Recently, Troy Weaver, the Pelicans’ senior VP of basketball operations, told Queen that anything less than 10 rebounds in a game is “a crime” from him, given the air space he can control with his width, wingspan and instincts.
Chris Haynes and Robin Lopez take stock of the 2025-26 rookie class.
“It definitely set a bar,” Queen said. “That’s one of my goals, to average a double-double.”
It is impossible to discuss Queen without addressing the price New Orleans paid to acquire him. Dumars, two months into his job last spring, had come to believe in both Fears and Queens. Having used the No. 7 pick on the point guard, Dumars traded up from No. 23 to No. 13, also sending to Atlanta his unprotected 2026 first-round pick.
It was a price that, to many, looks worse with each Pelicans loss. Each defeat increases the likelihood that it might become the top overall pick in what universally is regarded as a deep Draft class of potential difference-makers.
Dumars declined to be interviewed for this story, but in November, the former Pistons Hall of Famer said: “I get it. So much of today’s NBA narrative is around picks. … I’m trying to build culture here with some really good young players, and I gave up some draft capital to do that. And I love the two young players we have. I hope that doesn’t get lost in all of this.”
Shrugging off the unwanted spotlight has been one of Queen’s strengths, it seems.
“From the outside noise, there was a little bit of finger-pointing at him,” Borrego said. “But from what I see on the court, he’s staying to the integrity of who he is, his character. I don’t get a sense he’s playing with pressure on his shoulders. There’s a joy and a freedom he plays with. I think that’s what makes him special.”
The better Queen does, the more Dumars’ gamble looks prescient and the more they will shift the pressure to whichever player gets chosen with the Pelicans’ ’26 pick.
Said Queen: “There really wasn’t no pressure for me. For people who didn’t think that was best for the team, I just have to show them every night.”
Fiery Fears ‘learning on the fly’
Fears’ part in the trade sometimes gets lost in the outrage or fretting over the loss of that precious first-rounder. But if Dumars simply had spent the No. 7 pick on Queen, the big man he liked so much, the maneuver with Atlanta would not have been needed.
It’s been evident why the exec got greedy, though.
New Orleans’ injuries began early – in the backcourt, Jordan Poole missed 18 games and Dejounte Murray hasn’t played yet since tearing his right Achilles tendon nearly a year ago – and Fears was starting by the third game. He has scored 10-plus points in 31 of his 39 appearances, ranks third among the rookies in points, shots and free throws, and hasn’t wilted under the -295 plus/minus rating he’s toting through the losing.
“I’m definitely learning on the fly,” Fears said. “Being able to get to my spots has been the most important thing. Kind of learning how to manipulate the defenses, and getting my teammates involved. [As a point guard] you’re trying to instill confidence in guys older than you.”
Fears grew up in Chicago as a Bulls fan, favoring Derrick Rose, before moving to Arizona as a high school junior. The quirk of his jersey message – “Fears 0” – mostly owes to last season at Oklahoma. He also rooted for Russell Westbrook as a kid, but wore No. 2 in high school. That wasn’t available with the Sooners, so he dropped down rather than wear a non-descript No. 8 or No. 15.
Jeremiah Fears has scored 10 or more points in 31 of his 39 games this season.
“The fans put the message together,” Fears said. “I was just wearing a jersey, playing basketball. But social media was posting, ‘Zero Fears, that’s crazy!’ I saw it and thought, ‘that actually is cool.’”
Fears’ feistiness fits the back of his shirt. Already this season, he has had run-ins with veteran opponents such as Luka Dončić, Rui Hachimura, Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody.
“I’d say it’s my competitive spirit,” Fears said, smiling. “The fans enjoy it the most. Nobody wants to lose, so you get two guys and maybe you’re talking, and it’s like ‘You’re not going to do that again.’ As a rookie, you don’t go out and bow just because you’re playing against a superstar. You need to bring that edge every night.”
Said Queen: “Jeremiah is very competitive. He doesn’t keep quiet. In the preseason, Joe D. pulled me into his office and was telling me how I’ve got to prove myself and get in my spots. He said, ‘We know Jeremiah is not going to punked out of his spots.’ I see it every day.”
The 6-foot-3 point guard also brings speed, a swiftness on which Borrego has built the Pelicans’ pace.
“He has something you can’t teach, which is speed and the ability to get downhill,” the coach said. “Right now, you can put him with the top 10 guys to do this. He doesn’t need a pick-and-roll. He can get at will to the paint when he wants.
“Then it’s about decision-making. ‘I get down there, now what?’ That’s where we’re growing with him. He’s very aware of it. He’s an unselfish player. And he’s got a good talent base around he’s got to manage.”
Borrego finds a comparison in Hall of Famer Tony Parker, with whom he worked as a Spurs assistant.
“I’ve shared this with Jeremiah a lot – [Parker] was a natural scorer at his core, great pace, high-level paint player. He had to learn how to manage Duncan, Ginobili, Finley … it took a minute for Pop [coach Gregg Popovich] to get that across to him, when that’s your nature. But Jeremiah is willing to learn; he’s a sponge, he’s curious. He will get there.”
The Pelicans believe they will too, despite the injuries, performance dropoffs (Herb Jones, Poole) and endless speculation about Zion Williamson’s trade market. For now, any optimism seems to hang more on faith than evidence – other than what the two rookies are providing.
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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
