The New Orleans Pelicans closed the book on a second straight disappointing season Sunday night.

The good news was the play of Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen in the final games of their rookie seasons.

The bad news is it was yet another loss, a 132-126 road setback to the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center.

The Pelicans finished the season 26-56, the third worst record in an 82-game season in franchise history. It’s the second straight season they didn’t reach 30 wins.

“The biggest thing I’ll take from this team is they never died and they never dropped the sword,” said Pelicans’ interim head coach James Borrego. “They kept competing. Under some difficult circumstances, they never gave in.”

Now it’ll be up to executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars to turn things around. There will be plenty of questions for Dumars to answer over the next few months. The main one will be deciding who will coach the team next season. 

Will the team stick with Borrego, who took over after Willie Green was fired 12 games into the season. Or will Dumars go in a totally different direction and hire someone from the outside?

What will the team do with Zion Williamson, the face of the franchise the past seven seasons. Williamson played in 62 game this season, the second most games he’s played since being drafted with the No. 1 overall pick in 2019.

Will the Pelicans be able to move Jordan Poole? Poole, the second highest paid player on the roster acquired in the trade for CJ McCollum, was benched early in the season and ended up playing in just 39 games.

One of the bright spots was the play of the rookie class. Fears played in all 82 games and finished with 36 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in Sunday’s finale. Fears, who scored 36 and 40 points in the previous two games, is the first rookie in franchise history to record 30-plus points in three straight games. The 19-year old is also the first teenager in NBA history to score 35 or more points in three straight games.

“He kept growing every week, every day,” Borrego said. “Over the last two to three weeks, he’s played at an elite level. Now he gets momentum going into the summer and build into next year.”

Queen, who played in 81 games this season, poured in 30 points to go with 22 rebounds and four assists. Queen had a double double (17 points, 11 rebounds) in the first half, but the Pels trailed 73-59 at the break. Queen’s 22 rebounds were the most in franchise history by a rookie.

“Massive impact on the boards,” Borrego said. “It’s an area we have to get better in and he can do that. He can score and he can rebound and he can pass. Special player and it’s great he can go out with this notch in his belt.”

Rookie Micah Peavy, a second round draft pick, scored a season-best 21 points.

The Pelicans and Timberwolves combined to sit out 17 key players. The Pels were without stars like Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy, Saddiq Bey, Dejounte Murray and Herb Jones. The Timberwolves (49-33), who finished sixth in the Western Conference, were without the likes of Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle, Mike Conley and Naz Reid. So this night was all about the young players.

“They had significant minutes, played hard, played together and took a step forward,” Borrego said. “That’s all you can ask.”

Now the Pelicans head to the offseason after missing the playoffs for a second straight season. The Pels finished 11th in the Western Conference and with the eighth worst record in the NBA. 

“I can think on one hand of games we just didn’t bring it,” Borrego said. “Other than that, in my opinion we brought it for 70 games. I’m very proud of this group. That’s what I’ll remember from this group. They kept competing every single night. They brought it, had great energy and effort. They had a spirit that was connected and together. I’ll always be grateful for that.”