The New Orleans Pelicans made one of the biggest moves of the first round of the NBA draft last week, trading this year’s No. 23 pick and an unprotected first-round pick in the 2026 draft in order to move up to No. 13 that was held by the Atlanta Hawks.
Maryland big man Derik Queen was selected with the pick—technically by the Hawks but with immediate knowledge that he was heading to New Orleans.
The move was immediately confounding to those who track the value of potential NBA picks. Queen is a quality player that could have significant NBA upside, but the fact that the 2026 pick was unprotected immediately raised eyebrows. In the lottery era, any future pick can become No. 1, and the pick the Pelicans were trading away has a better chance than most. Further, couldn’t they at least start the negotiations with the pick being top-five protected?
According to Pelicans reporter Shamit Dua, who covers the team on Substack, the trade return was so surprising that even the Hawks front office did a double take when the offer was initially made.
Per Dua’s report:
One Eastern executive with knowledge of how the conversation went from Atlanta’s perspective described a perplexing scene. When Senior Vice President Troy Weaver made the call to Atlanta’s Bryson Graham, Graham couldn’t believe what was actually being offered. Graham asked for clarification multiple times to confirm the unprotected pick was indeed part of the deal. It got to the point where Hawks General Manager, Onsi Saleh, called Joe Dumars directly to confirm for himself. The Hawks waited nervously for Dumars to confirm, hoping he would not realize what was going on and walk the trade back. But the Pelicans persisted and the Hawks got their steal.
Dua also noted that in general, the Pelicans are apparently a front office the rest of the league feels they have a chance to get the better of, often looking to make favorable deals with New Orleans where they think they can keep the upper hand at the negotiating table.
It’s very easy to overreact to draft day trades. Dua also noted in his report that the Pelicans had Queen graded as a top-five prospect, and should he develop into a star, there’s a chance that the New Orleans front office will in retrospect be celebrated for their genius. Pelicans executive Joe Dumars has projected confidence even in the wake of criticism that the trade has brought. That said, depending on where that pick winds up in next year’s draft, this is one trade that comes with plenty of potential blowback.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Atlanta Hawks Needed Multiple Confirmations Pelicans Were Serious About Draft Night Trade.
