Saturday morning brought some great news for the New Orleans Pelicans as rookie center Derik Queen was cleared to resume basketball activities, per the team.
Queen had suffered a torn scapholunate ligament in his left wrist during the Summer League back in July and needed surgery to repair it. He has been with the team and doing as much as he could in practice, but has not been able to engage in any contact.
The 20-year-old will now have to get up to speed quickly as he missed all preseason games and most of training camp as the regular season begins on Wednesday.
The Pelicans have high hopes with his potential. The former Maryland Terrapins star can do a little bit of everything from the center position. He can score on the inside, block shots, playmake, shoot and more.
If Queen can refine his game well, he could certainly become the next in the new class of centers like Alperen Segun, Domantas Sabonis and Nikola Jokic.
Those are some hefty expectations to place on the rookie, but he has the talent and skillset. There is a reason that Joe Dumars felt safe trading what is expected to be a lottery pick in the stacked 2026 draft class to take Queen in the last draft.
New Orleans could not be getting him back at a better time, either, as their front court has taken a huge hit by the Kevon Looney injury.
With Queen not playing at all since Summer League, it's unclear how big of a role he will play early on. He's been keeping up to speed as best he can, though, with the team stating that they want to get him in action as quickly as possible when they are allowed. That time has now come.