Many speculated the New Orleans Pelicans made a grave mistake when they traded an unprotected 1st-round pick in a loaded 2026 draft to move up in the 2025 draft and select Derik Queen. A month and a half into the NBA season, those concerns seem officially put to bed.
Queen put together the best performance of his young career Monday in a narrow loss to the San Antonio Spurs. The center recorded 31 points on 11-of-15 shooting, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. He became the first rookie this season to notch a triple-double.
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It’s the first 30-point triple-double by a rookie center in NBA history.
Queen joined extremely rare company with his performance. He’s the fifth player to record a 30-point triple-double before turning 21. The other four? Victor Wembanyama, DeAaron Fox, Luka Dončić and LeBron James.
He’s also just one of three rookie big men under 21 with a triple-double, joining Wembanyama and Chris Webber.
In other news
Maryland football edge rushers Sidney Stewart and Zahir Mathis were named On3 True Freshman All-Americans.
Maryland women’s basketball remained at No. 7 in this week’s AP poll.
Josie Hollamon and Alyssa Klebasko started for the United States national field hockey team in the Junior World Cup.