New Orleans Pelicans rookies Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears are sliding down the NBA Rookie ladder.
One of the more interesting storylines to follow this season has been the growth of the New Orleans Pelicans' rookies, Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears.
Each week, NBA.com's Steve Aschburner updates his rookie ladder, which ranks the top 10 rookies in the league. Both Queen and Fears have been represented for much of the year, but are not as high as they once were. Previously, both were in the top four; now, they are absent from the top seven.
Here's the new top of the list, the players that Aschburner has above the Pelicans youngsters:
No. 1 - Kon Knueppel, Charlotte Hornets
No. 2 - Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks
No. 3 - VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia 76ers
No. 4 - Dylan Harper, San Antonio Spurs
No. 5 - Maxime Raynaud, Sacramento Kings
No. 6 - Ace Bailey, Utah Jazz
No. 7 - Cedric Coward, Memphis Grizzlies
Then, as some would find a little bit surprising, Queen is the higher-ranked of the New Orleans duo, still at No. 8. That's the rank that he was last week.
The Pelicans played in four games between the last rankings and this group. They went 2-2, with both wins coming against the Los Angeles Clippers. The losses were their last two games against the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks.
Queen's best performance came in that first win against the Clippers. He had 14 points, 9-for-9 from the charity stripe, with two rebounds, two assists, a steal and no turnovers. He averaged 8.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists over the four games as a whole.
The 21-year-old has seemingly hit a wall late in his rookie year, now fighting for minutes with the starting lineup healthy and him on the bench. He's had ups and downs, but his role has lessened overall. It's showing that he won't be gifted minutes and needs to improve his defense before the team can rely on him for longer stretches.
Fears is right behind Queen in the ranking at No. 9, which is also where he was in the last ranking. This spot seems low given his recent performances. He's been the best rookie on the team recently, so he should be at least one spot higher.
In the recent four-game stretch, Fears averaged 11.8 points, 1.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists on 51.3/35.7/1.000 shooting splits.
The 19-year-old has had the two best games of his career this past month, with a career-high 28 points to start and an impressive 21-point outing against the Knicks earlier this week.