Following a polarizing, widely-criticized draft, the New Orleans Pelicans welcomed their new rookie class to the franchise Saturday with an introductory press conference. It's not the players the Pelicans walked away with per se, but what they gave up in the process.
After selecting Oklahoma's Jeremiah Fears with the seventh pick, the Pelicans moved up 10 spots from No. 23 to No. 13 to select Maryland's Derik Queen. In the move to get Queen, they gave up a 2026 unprotected first-round pick.
The front office's decision to part ways with next year's pick—especially amid the franchise's uncertain future—drew tons of criticism. The Ringer's Bill Simmons called the move "one of the five dumbest trades of this decade."
Saturday's presser gave the team their first opportunity to address all the outside noise directly. And Pelicans president of basketball operations Joe Dumars isn't too worried about the draft capital he sent to the Atlanta Hawks due to the player he got in return.
"I've been doing this way to long to give credence to naysayers," Dumars said as he addressed the backlash. "I will say this, though. We're going to trod our own path here, we're not going to go by anyone else's playbook. These are the guys that we really wanted as Pelicans and we're super, super happy to have them here."
Queen, at the center of the controversial trade at no fault of his own, shared a similar sentiment. He said the criticism surrounding the trade is "definitely" providing some extra motivation ahead of his rookie season.
"I don't think anybody in that [draft] class is ever going to be better than me so I block all the noise out," he said Saturday. "[Dumars] has a lot of faith in me. Most of those guys I beat on in high school—I know the NBA is a whole different level—so I just got to continue getting better, don't get too big-headed, don't get too low.
"Just beat on them next year when they come in and make Joe look like a genius."
We'll need to wait at least a few years before more certain conclusions can be drawn from the deal. But the Pelicans need their '25 rookie class to do exactly what Queen says.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Pelicans Executive Joe Dumars Strongly Pushed Back on Trade Criticism Following Draft.
