The New Orleans Pelians must prioritize Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen this season, even if it comes at the cost of what they may view as the current winning formula.
The New Orleans Pelicans have constructed themselves into a single path that has two timelines trying to travel down it. One where Zion Williamson leads them to the playoffs, and one where Jeremiah Fears/Derik Queen lead them into the future.
Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver took over the team at an inopportune time to reshape it. Williamson is an elite talent, but has never been healthy enough to rely on or valuable enough to trade. A habit that is just too hard to quit. The good is great, but the bad halts the franchise entirely.
Both of their premier rookies had moments of greatness last season, but they were also still rookies and made many mistakes. Because of the investment that the franchise made into them and the fact that there wasn't much else to look forward to, their deficiencies were often highlighted as much as their strengths.
Now, heading into their second season, neither is guaranteed a starting spot. Actually, neither is likely to begin the year with one. Dejounte Murray could get the veteran nod at the one and Yves Missi fits better into the lineup with the rest of that group.
Despite the team presenting that Queen and Fears will be key players in their rotation moving forward, they are also known to want to make the playoffs. Not putting them in the starting lineup suggests they don't believe their best chance of winning is with them on the court right now.
That is exactly why, no matter what, the Pelicans must make sure that this year ends with both Fears and Queen establishing themselves as starters. No matter the cost.
Fears has already shown what he can do with a green light. He dropped 40, 36 and 36 in his final three games. No matter the competition, that is hard to do in the NBA unless you have serious scoring skills.
The problem is that he was a target on defense for opposing teams and had a long way to go as someone in charge of an NBA offense. Fears made great strides in-season as a rookie, which is hard, and has been hard at work this offseason. He could be in for a huge leap as a sophomore if given the opportunity.
Murray is viewed as the more solid current option, though, because Fears had one of the worst plus/minus metrics in the entire league at -287, with only six rookies below him. One of those rookies below him was Queen with -304.
Queen is a marvel to watch on offense at times and has quick hands on defense. He has an incredible basketball IQ. He is more than capable of growing into the engine of a modern NBA offense. Like Fears, though, he has a trek ahead on defense. Queen has also been active in the gym, with him and DeAndre Jordan working on reshaping his body.
Both of these players have the right attitudes and have put in the right work in the offseason ahead of their second seasons. Now it is up to the team to also help put them into the right spot to succeed, even if it comes at the cost of the old regime.
The sophomores also have an entire training camp and preseason to show the team why they should be starting right away. Those two spots on the opposite ends of the trio of Williamson, Trey Murphy and Herbert Jones are still open as of now, though not trending in their direction.
