{"id":102248,"date":"2025-08-28T13:39:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T13:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/102248\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T13:39:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T13:39:07","slug":"3-reasons-why-the-pelicans-won-the-2025-nba-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/102248\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Reasons Why The Pelicans Won The 2025 NBA Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Similar to other Western Conference teams, such as the Timberwolves<\/a> and the Thunder<\/a>, the New Orleans Pelicans have selected a great crop of prospects. In the first round, New Orleans drafted Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears<\/a> at pick seven and Maryland big man Derik Queen<\/a> through a trade with the Hawks (No. 13). As for the second round, the Pelicans drafted Georgetown wing Micah Peavy<\/a> at No. 40.<\/p>\n

Undoubtedly, the three players the Pelicans selected are all highly talented prospects who fill needs on the roster. The rookies flashed their potential at Summer League despite not winning any games. Each rookie can certainly be an impactful piece in the future for New Orleans. Let\u2019s dive into three reasons why the New Orleans Pelicans won the 2025 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n

3 Reasons Why The Pelicans Won The 2025 NBA Draft
\n#1: Point Guard Of The Future<\/p>\n

While the Pelicans still have Dejounte Murray<\/a> and recently traded for Jordan Poole<\/a>, they still needed a real long-term option at point guard. They succeed in filling that need by drafting one of the most intriguing point guard prospects in Fears<\/a>. What made Fears an interesting prospect is his advanced ability to create advantages through his speed and ball-handling. Additionally, he knows how to utilize his rim pressure to help create opportunities for his teammates as well.<\/p>\n

Considering those aspects, Fears has the makings of being an impactful starting guard for New Orleans. With Murray currently rehabbing from an Achilles injury and Poole\u2019s future with the Pelicans unclear, Fears is clearly their plan to settle the point guard position for the long haul. While he isn\u2019t the greatest fit next to Zion Williamson<\/a>, it is difficult to deny his level of talent.<\/p>\n

#2:Dynamic Frontcourt<\/p>\n

Obtaining a prospect on the level of Queen<\/a>, despite the controversial trade<\/a>, is another success for the Pelicans. In Queen, the Pelicans get a dynamic interior scorer who has flashed excellent passing ability as a big man. Not only that, but the six-foot-ten big is also a strong rebounder on both ends.<\/p>\n

Queen has the potential to be an intriguing offensive hub for New Orleans, who can create open looks through his scoring pressure in the post. Plus, Queen is capable of handling the ball himself, allowing him to create shots from the perimeter as well. With both Queen and Williamson, New Orleans can always keep an excellent interior frontcourt scorer out on the court at all times. Should Queen develop a three-point shot to go with his other positives, the dynamism that he brings only goes up.<\/p>\n

#3: Defense On The Wings<\/p>\n

One of the major problems of the Pelicans is their overall lack of defensive personnel. They were second-to-last<\/a> in defensive rating compared to the rest of the league last season. New Orleans used the draft to fortify their defensive personnel by taking Peavy.<\/p>\n

Standing at six-foot-seven, Peavy has the size and enough athleticism to be able to defend on the wings. He demonstrated at Georgetown that he is an excellent defender who can defend multiple positions. Furthermore, he has the defensive versatility to switch between opponents. Plus, he has the basketball IQ to know exactly where he needs to be on defense. That typically translates in his ability to be a defensive playmaker. Paired with Herb Jones<\/a>, the Pelicans can trot out a great defensive core on the wings to pair with the stars.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Brad Penner-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Similar to other Western Conference teams, such as the Timberwolves and the Thunder, the New Orleans Pelicans have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[71318,64,63,7231,52202,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-102248","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-2025-nba-draft","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-derik-queen","12":"tag-jeremiah-fears","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}