{"id":33940,"date":"2025-07-30T09:00:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T09:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/33940\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T09:00:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T09:00:09","slug":"kendrick-perkins-calls-out-people-who-criticized-new-orleans-pelicans-lottery-pick-im-telling-you-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/33940\/","title":{"rendered":"Kendrick Perkins calls out people who criticized New Orleans Pelicans&#8217; lottery pick, &#8216;I&#8217;m telling you right now&#8230;&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>One of the New Orleans Pelicans\u2019 lottery picks has been under a lot of heat, but former NBA player Kendrick Perkins has spoken out for him.<\/p>\n<p>It was an offseason of massive changes for the <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/new-orleans-pelicans\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New Orleans Pelicans<\/a>, especially in their front office as former NBA Vice President Joe Dumars moved to the franchise as their President of Basketball Operations.<\/p>\n<p>He is known to make massive decisions and is also a former Executive of the Year with the <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/detroit-pistons\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Detroit Pistons<\/a>, but one of his first big moves with the Pelicans came under a lot of scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p>The team decided to trade next year\u2019s first-round pick for the 13th pick in the <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/nba-draft-2025-full-pick-by-pick-results-from-round-1\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">2025 NBA draft<\/a>: <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/derik-queen\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Derik Queen<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>His Summer League campaign was <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/new-orleans-pelicans-fans-all-make-cursed-point-after-derik-queen-injury-update\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">cut short due to an injury<\/a> and this led to many criticizing the franchise.<\/p>\n<p>However, Kendrick Perkins has come to the defense of the former Maryland player.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"940\" height=\"627\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2225468596-1-940x627.jpg\" alt=\"Derik Queen was picked 13th overall by the New Orleans Pelicans\" class=\"wp-image-174259\" \/>Photo by Harry How\/Getty ImagesPerkins believes Queen is the most skilled player in the draft<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/serious-problem-kendrick-perkins-makes-prediction-after-seeing-derik-queen-make-pelicans-debut\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Perkins had previously also heaped praise on Queen\u2019s ability<\/a> on the court. Although he will be out for at least three months, the former NBA player believes the 13th pick will be immense for the Pels in his rookie season.<\/p>\n<p>Queen had some big moments in college and although the Pels\u2019 decision to draft him was a risky one, Perkins believes he has a limitless ceiling.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"941\" height=\"627\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-517909088-941x627.jpg\" alt=\"Kendrick Perkins also had a stint with the New Orleans Pelicans\" class=\"wp-image-173714\" \/>Photo by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDerik Queen is going to be special. I would have moved up to get Derik Queen. He is a Baby Jokic\/baby Sengun. The man has the complete package. He is going to be special,\u201d said Perkins.<\/p>\n<p>Queen had a double-double in all three of his Summer League appearances. But there were clearly things he could improve on, most importantly his decision-making.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"941\" height=\"627\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2206595352-941x627.jpg\" alt=\"A detail of the New Orleans Pelicans logo on a uniform during the game against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena.\" class=\"wp-image-165064\" \/>Photo by Nic Antaya\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>He added: \u201cIf things don\u2019t pan out with Zion Williamson and after this season if the Pelicans decide to part ways with Zion, I\u2019m telling you right now, Derik Queen when he comes back from the wrist injury, he is going to be a problem. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is arguably the most skilled player in this draft. He doesn\u2019t have a ceiling, he is Lil Wayne.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>A fit Derik Queen would be beneficial for the Pels<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/march-madness-hero-derik-queen-is-ready-for-the-nba-draft-best-fits-strengths-weaknesses-and-key-facts\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Queen had impressive numbers for Maryland<\/a> in the NCAA tournament, averaging 18.7 points and 8.7 rebounds.<\/p>\n<p>While there is no fixed date for his return, the Pels could use a player like him as he could contribute across the board for them.<\/p>\n<p>The Pels do not have a lot of center options and Queen might be a player they can use in that position.<\/p>\n<p>They currently have Yves Missi and <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/kevon-looney\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kevon Looney<\/a>, but Queen could add a lot more dynamism playing as the center.<\/p>\n<p>His defensive game needs a little more improvement, but Queen is still young and will progress as he gains more experience.<\/p>\n<p>He certainly has confidence and is a proven performer, but the Pelicans will be hoping those qualities transition into the NBA.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the New Orleans Pelicans\u2019 lottery picks has been under a lot of heat, but former NBA&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,8230,25698,459,1227,17317,8214,82],"class_list":["post-33940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-derik-queen","tag-kendrick-perkins","tag-nba","tag-nba-summer-league","tag-nba-draft","tag-new-orleans-pelicans","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}