Derik Queen Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Fischer’s Latest: Sixers, Bailey, Edgecombe, Fears, Maluach, More

June 25th, 2025 at 4:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers are expected to make one last attempt to trade up to No. 2 for the chance to draft Dylan Harper, but it’s not likely to be successful, writes Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). Fischer believes the Spurs have decided they want Harper to be part of their future and haven’t given serious consideration to parting with the pick.

Fischer adds that the most likely scenario is for the Sixers to stay at No. 3 unless there’s a sharp improvement in the offers from other teams. He also suggests that Ace Bailey remains in contention to be selected, even though he canceled a workout in Philadelphia and has sent out signals that he would rather be selected by a team that could offer guaranteed playing time and a larger role in the offense. Fischer still considers Bailey to be a strong fit alongside Joel Embiid and Paul George because of his shooting skills, but he acknowledges that V.J. Edgecombe is the “likely top contender” to go to Philadelphia.

If Bailey does get bypassed by the Sixers, Fischer doesn’t expect him to fall farther that the Wizards at No. 6. League sources tell him that Bailey declined a chance to work out for the Jazz, and it’s believed that he didn’t have an official visit with any of the lottery teams. Fischer points out that Washington meets Bailey’s requirements as a team that could offer “a healthy shot profile and on-ball creation opportunities.”

Fischer shares more inside information as the draft draws closer:

The Nets are likely to pounce on point guard Jeremiah Fears if he’s still on the board at No. 8, Fischer states, noting that rumors of his preference for Brooklyn date back to the Draft Combine. Fears made visits to Utah and New Orleans, and Fischer believes his range appears to start with the fifth pick. Fischer also raises the possibility that the Nets could package some of the five first-rounders they have tonight to move up if they believe another team might select Fears.
Fischer calls Khaman Maluach “the most consequential domino of the first round” apart from Bailey. He’s considered the top available big man, and Fischer notes that he helped himself with strong performances during the interview process. League sources tell Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports that the Pelicans are expected to try to trade up to land Bailey. If they’re unsuccessful, then Maluach could be their pick at No. 7 if he’s still on the board. O’Connor hears that some lottery teams have Maluach ranked in their top two or three and he’s considered “one of the most popular trade-up targets.”
Fischer believes the Pelicans mark the start of Derik Queen‘s range if someone else takes Maluach, but he adds that the Spurs may try to trade up from No. 14 for the Duke center, while the Raptors at No. 9 also have him highly rated.
Cedric Coward has been improving his status throughout the pre-draft process, and Fischer doesn’t expect him to fall past the teens. Sources tell Fischer that Coward has interest from the Trail Blazers at No. 11 and he has worked out multiple times for the Thunder, who hold the 15th pick. Fischer hears that the Nets are hoping to land Coward at No. 19, but they may need to trade up to have a chance.
NCAA Tournament star Walter Clayton Jr. has “multiple suitors” in the early 20s, according to Fischer. He cites league insiders who believe Clayton and Jase Richardson could be targets for the Kings if they’re able to trade for a pick in that range.
There’s an expectation that this will be an active trading night, possibly starting with the Sixers at No. 3 and the Hornets at No. 4. “There’s gonna be at least four or five (trades),” a Western Conference team strategist told Fischer.

Draft Rumors: Pelicans, Queen, Essengue, Raptors, Nets, Wolves

June 25th, 2025 at 1:09pm CST by Luke Adams

While Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN have the Pelicans selecting Duke center Khaman Maluach with the seventh overall pick in their latest mock draft ahead of Wednesday night’s event, there has been some 11th-hour buzz linking New Orleans to Derik Queen, Givony notes.

As Givony explains, new Pelicans executive Troy Weaver has “long-standing connections” to Baltimore- and D.C.-area prospects, and his son was a graduate assistant on Maryland’s coaching staff in 2024/25, so he had an opportunity to scout Queen extensively this past season.

New Pelicans head of basketball operations Joe Dumars recently indicated Weaver will play an important role in the team’s draft decisions, lauding the former Pistons GM for his “elite” ability to identify talent.

Here’s more on the 2025 NBA draft, with the first round just hours away:

After flying across the Atlantic from Germany this week, French forward Noa Essengue initially traveled to Toronto for a “secret” private workout with the Raptors before heading on to New York for the draft, according to Givony. While it may be just a coincidence, when Essengue was asked on Tuesday which players he models his game after, he mentioned three current or former Raptors: Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam, and Kawhi Leonard (Twitter video link via Erik Slater of ClutchPoints).
The Nets are signaling that they’re unlikely to move down from the No. 8 pick and aren’t opposed to the idea of using all five of their first-round picks tonight, given how many openings they’ll likely have on their roster, per Givony and Woo. Head coach Jordi Fernandez and Brooklyn’s coaching staff are also considered “friendly to the idea” of developing young talent, ESPN’s duo notes. Still, Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link) questions whether this leak is meant to improve the Nets’ leverage in trade talks involving some of those first-rounders.
The Timberwolves have conveyed an openness to moving the No. 17 overall pick for future assets, depending on which prospects are on the board at that point, Givony reports.
Like ESPN, Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has updated his mock draft on Wednesday. Interestingly, the two sites have the exact same results through the top 13 picks before starting to deviate at No. 14.

Fischer’s Latest: Porzingis, Spurs, Bulls, Suns, Thunder, Rockets

June 24th, 2025 at 11:42am CST by Luke Adams

After agreeing on Monday night to trade Jrue Holiday to Portland, Boston continues to explore potential Kristaps Porzingis trades, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link), who says the Celtics are determined to get positive value for Porzingis and get younger in the process, like they did with the Holiday deal.

In addition to reiterating that the Suns have done due diligence on Porzingis, Fischer identifies the Spurs as one of the teams with some level of interest in the Celtics big man. Fischer cautions that San Antonio may be a long shot to acquire Porzingis, but it certainly seems as if the club will be in the market for frontcourt help, having also been linked to Guerschon Yabusele this week.

According to Fischer, there has been some chatter about the Spurs potentially eyeing a big man with their second lottery pick (No. 14), or even trying to move up from that spot to add more size.

The Bulls, meanwhile, aren’t pursuing Porzingis, but there have been some rival teams wondering if they might do so, Fischer writes, explaining that Chicago is being “increasingly mentioned in connection with various big men.” The Bulls are another team considered a possible trade-up candidate from the late lottery (No. 12) in the hopes of adding a frontcourt player, Fischer adds.

Here’s more from Fischer:

There’s an expectation that the Suns will be targeting a big man with their newly acquired No. 10 pick. Derik Queen and Danny Wolf are two of the potential targets Fischer has been told to keep an eye on at that spot.
The Thunder, who control the 15th and 24th overall picks, are being “frequently described” as a team with interest in moving up in the draft, according to Fischer. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reported something similar during a TV appearance (Twitter video link). Oklahoma City probably isn’t in position to add two first-round picks to its 15-man roster, so a deal involving one or both of those selections seems like a real possibility.
Noting that that the Thunder talked a little to Houston about the No. 10 pick before the Rockets sent it to Phoenix, Fischer wonders if the Suns would have interest in swapping No. 10 for Nos. 15 and 24 in order to add multiple young prospects to their revamped roster.
Fischer and Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required) both report that the Rockets are exploring trade options to get back into the draft after sending their only 2025 picks (Nos. 10 and 59) to Phoenix. Sources tell Lerner that there are about five prospects, mostly projected first-round picks, that Houston is very high on, so the team could get more aggressive about trading back into the draft if one of those players starts to slide.

Draft Notes: Centers, Luis, Sleepers, Flagg, Richardson, Gonzalez

June 20th, 2025 at 3:51pm CST by Luke Adams

Ahead of next week’s draft, David Aldridge of The Athletic talked to several college coaches and NBA executives and scouts about the top big men in the 2025 draft class, including Khaman Maluach, Derik Queen, Collin Murray-Boyles, and Thomas Sorber, among others. Interestingly, one of the college head coaches who spoke to Aldridge believes Maluach has “the biggest upside of anybody” in this year’s draft.

“He’s huge. And he’s long. He’s a good athlete. And I think he has natural defensive instincts,” that coach said of the Duke center. “He shoots the ball better than I think, maybe, he was able to show this year. He’s a live body. He’s enthusiastic about playing. It seems he loves the process, is not afraid of it. He’s competitive. He’s not afraid. He’s ready to mix it up if he needs to. His length, size and athleticism, and then when you add those other things, I think the only thing that could stop him is injury.”

Meanwhile, multiple college assistant coaches questioned what sort of players Queen will match up with defensively at the NBA level.

“I don’t worry about him at all on offense. But I don’t think he can guard fives. I don’t think he’s great in pick-and-roll defense, and I don’t think he can move well enough laterally to guard Giannis (Antetokounmpo) and Michael Porter Jr., these scorers,” one of those assistants said. “Can he guard (Mikal) Bridges? Can he guard Josh Hart? Can he guard Stew (Isaiah Stewart), the next tier of guys who aren’t the primary offensive option, but they know how to cut, how to go to the glass?”

We have more on the 2025 NBA draft:

Speaking to Cyro Asseo de Choch of HoopsHype, St. John’s standout RJ Luis Jr. – a second-team All-American in 2025 – discusses his breakout junior year, what he can bring to an NBA team, and why he believes he can be “even better” in the NBA than he was at the college level.
CJ Moore of The Athletic surveyed college basketball coaches to get their thoughts on some of this year’s second-round prospects and to have them identify some deeper sleepers who might find their way onto NBA rosters as undrafted free agents. Houston guard LJ Cryer, St. John’s wing Aaron Scott, Butler wing Jahmyl Telfort, Missouri guard Caleb Grill, and San Francisco guard Marcus Williams earned mentions as sleepers.
Applying his stats-based model to some of this year’s top prospects, Kevin Pelton of ESPN finds that Kon Knueppel (No. 2) and Noa Essengue (No. 5) are among the players whom that model likes a little more than draft experts do, while Ace Bailey (No. 22) and Tre Johnson (No. 24) are among those who don’t fare nearly as well. Interestingly, Pelton notes that his projection for Cooper Flagg is the third-best in his overall database, which dates back to 2005, behind only Zion Williamson and Luka Doncic.
With green room invitations sent out to a total of 24 prospects for next week’s draft, the only players in ESPN’s top 25 who didn’t get invites are Jase Richardson (No. 18) and Hugo Gonzalez (No. 22), notes Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Gonzalez is still playing in the Spanish League postseason.

Draft Notes: Guards, Wings, Trades, Fears, Queen

June 19th, 2025 at 10:12pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Even after Duke phenom Cooper Flagg and Rutgers guard Dylan Harper, the draft’s presumed top two picks, come off the board, this year’s draft lottery is loaded with intriguing wings and guards.

David Aldridge of The Athletic consulted with anonymous league scouts and coaches about the best guard prospects in the draft, and also took a look at the best potential NBA wings.

Harper proved to be somewhat divisive. The folks Aldridge consulted were decidedly mixed on his upside, with some projecting him as an eventual All-Star and others believing he could be a longtime pro but may not have a high ceiling.

“He has a professionalism about him that’s really uncommon,” one college assistant coach said of Harper. “He knows the game. He plays the right way. He guards. He tries defensively.”

Arizona wing Carter Bryant may lack a great handle, but an Eastern Conference scout appreciates the rest of his offensive makeup. He’s projected to be the No. 10 pick in the latest ESPN mock.

“His shot’s fluid, especially in spot-up situations,” the scout said. “He’s not somebody who’ll create his own shots, at least his first few years in the league. He’s good at relocating to open space. His shot comes out of his hand really well, and the defense is high-level.”

There’s more intel ahead of the draft:

In a fairly deep draft year, Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports identifies several prospects he believes could be worth trading down out of the top three to acquire for the Spurs and Sixers. O’Connor evaluates the shooting promise of Duke guard Kon Knueppel and Texas guard Tre Johnson, the motor of Baylor wing V.J. Edgecombe, and the upside of Duke center Khaman Maluach, among other lottery-level players.
Should they stay put, the Nets could still have plenty of promising possibilities to select with the eighth pick this year. An NBA scout raved to Brian Lewis of The New York Post about the upside of Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears, who could still be available in the middle of the lottery. “I’m not [drafting] in the top two or three, in terms of being able to hit a home run on a guy that could be an absolute superstar game-changer, he’d be one of the guys past [Nos.] 3 or 4 that could actually do that,” the scout said.
Under a new front office regime, the Pelicans are high on freshman Maryland big Derik Queen, a source informs Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman (Twitter link). New Orleans possesses the No. 7 pick this season following another injury-plagued year. The All-Big Ten center averaged 16.5 PPG and 9.0 RPG in Maryland last year.

Draft Notes: Player Comps, Fit/Value, Guide, Withdrawals

June 12th, 2025 at 12:07pm CST by Rory Maher

In a story for ESPN.com, Jeremy Woo lists both the high- and low-end comparisons for each player mocked by ESPN to go in the top 15 of the 2025 draft, which will begin on June 25. Woo writes that the likely outcome for the comparisons typically falls somewhere in the middle.

For consensus top prospect Cooper Flagg, Woo says Jayson Tatum with more defense would be a best-case outcome, with his low-end comp being Andre Iguodala with more offense. How about Dylan Harper, widely viewed as the second-best player in the class? According to Woo, Harper has a chance to become a Jalen Brunson-type player with more size, while a career like D’Angelo Russell‘s may be his floor.

As the draft gets closer to the back end of the lottery, there’s a wider range of outcomes. For instance, if Collin Murray-Boyles improves his jump shot, Woo thinks he could develop into a player like Al Horford. But if he doesn’t, he might just be a frontcourt depth option with solid defense, similar to Xavier Tillman.

Derik Queen (Alperen Sengun/Sandro Mamukelashvili), Joan Beringer (Clint Capela/Jaxson Hayes) and Noa Essengue (Pascal Siakam/Jarred Vanderbilt) are among the prospects mentioned in the teens.

Here are a few more notes on the upcoming draft:

ESPN’s latest mock draft focuses on the first round, with Jonathan Givony selecting a player who fills each team’s biggest need, while Woo chooses the prospects who offer the best value. While there’s a decent amount of overlap between the fit and value picks, there are also some major differences, starting at No. 2, where Givony views Kon Knueppel as the best fit for the Spurs (Harper is the best available).
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic recently released his comprehensive draft guide, featuring in-depth scouting reports on 75 players and ranking his top 100 prospects. Vecenie is extremely bullish on Flagg, believing him to be the second-best prospect in the past decade, only behind Victor Wembanyama, and is also high on Harper. However, he’s not as optimistic about the rest of the draft, with those two in separate tiers of their own. Notably, Vecenie is much lower on Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears (No. 18 vs. No. 7) than ESPN. The same is true of BYU’s Egor Demin (No. 25 vs. No. 11). By contrast, he’s much higher on Cedric Coward (No. 10 vs No. 29) and Noah Penda (No. 15 vs. No. 28) than ESPN’s experts. The guide is well worth checking out in full if you subscribe to The Athletic.
A pair of international prospects are withdrawing from the draft, according to Givony of ESPN and Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress (Twitter links). Croatian forward/center Michael Ruzic, the 44th-ranked prospect on ESPN’s big board, has withdrawn from consideration, agents Bill Duffy and Sasa Zagorac tell Givony. Meanwhile, Bassala Bagayoko, a 6’9″ big man from Mali, will return to Spanish club Bilbao for the 2025/26 season, Chekpkevich reports. June 15 is the final deadline for early entrants to withdraw from the draft.

NBA Invites 13 Prospects To Draft Green Room

June 10th, 2025 at 2:57pm CST by Luke Adams

A total of 13 draft-eligible players have been invited to the NBA’s green room for the 2025 draft so far, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN.

Those players are as follows, sorted by their rank on ESPN’s big board:

Cooper Flagg (Duke)
Dylan Harper (Rutgers)
Ace Bailey (Rutgers)
V.J. Edgecombe (Baylor)
Tre Johnson (Texas)
Khaman Maluach (Duke)
Jeremiah Fears (Oklahoma)
Kon Knueppel (Duke)
Kasparas Jakucionis (Illinois)
Egor Demin (BYU)
Carter Bryant (Arizona)
Derik Queen (Maryland)
Asa Newell (Georgia)

As Givony observes, 12 of the top 13 players on ESPN’s board have received invitations so far, with the only exception being French forward Noa Essengue, who comes in at No. 9. The 18-year-old is still playing in Germany for Ratiopharm Ulm as the team vies for a spot in the Basketball Bundesliga Finals.

Essengue’s season could be over as soon as later this week, in which case he’d have no problem attending the draft and would likely get a green room invite. However, it’s also possible his season might extend beyond June 25 (day one of the draft) if Ulm makes the BBL Finals and the series requires the maximum five games — in that scenario, Game 5 would be played on June 26.

Another 11 green room invitations are expected to be sent out to prospects prior to the draft, a source tells Givony. The players invited to the green room can usually feel pretty confident about their chances to be first-round picks, since the league only decides who to invite after asking teams to vote on the 25 prospects they expect to come off the board first.

Still, there are occasionally instances in which players in the green room slip further than expected. Last season, Givony notes, Kyle Filipowski and Johnny Furphy received green room invites but weren’t selected until the second round, which was held a day later for the first time.

And-Ones: 2025 Draft, Withdrawals, Finals, Scariolo

May 30th, 2025 at 12:10pm CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of the NCAA’s withdrawal deadline, ESPN draft experts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo have updated their big board of this year’s top 100 draft-eligible prospects.

There are no surprises at the very top of their list, with Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey, and V.J. Edgecombe continuing to hold the first four spots. However, there’s plenty of movement elsewhere in the first round, with Noa Essengue (No. 14 to 9), Carter Bryant (No. 20 to 12), Maxime Raynaud (No. 35 to 24) among the biggest risers since ESPN last updated its big board.

Conversely, Kasparas Jakucionis (No. 7 to 10), Derik Queen (No. 10 to 13), and Jase Richardson (No. 13 to 20) are among the prospects who were projected as lottery picks in ESPN’s previous update and have slipped a few spots this time around.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

An ESPN panel consisting of Givony, Woo, and college basketball insider Jeff Borzello evaluates how this month’s early entrant decisions have impacted the NCAA landscape, identifying which programs benefited most or were hit hardest by the decisions made before Wednesday’s withdrawal deadline. Givony, Woo, and Borzello also single out a few players who look poised to boost their draft stock for 2026 after returning to school, including Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford and Houston’s Joseph Tugler.
If Indiana beats New York once more to win the Eastern Conference Finals, it would be the first NBA Finals since the luxury tax was implemented in which neither team is a taxpayer, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Both the Thunder and Pacers stayed below the tax this season, whereas every other NBA Finals since 2003 (with the exception of 2005, when a lack of basketball-related income resulted in no luxury taxes) has featured at least one taxpaying team.
Sergio Scariolo, a former Raptors assistant and the current head coach of the Spanish national team, is interviewing for a position with an NBA team, reports Alex Molina of Eurohoops. The identity of that NBA team is unclear, but the interview is presumably for an assistant coaching role, since the Suns are the only team with a head coaching vacancy and are already in their third round of interviews.

Bulls Draft Rumors: Demin, Queen, Powell, More

May 29th, 2025 at 6:55pm CST by Rory Maher

The Bulls are “zoning in” on BYU’s Egor Demin ahead of the 2025 NBA draft, according to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. The Bulls control the 12th and 45th picks in next month’s draft. However, the Russian guard, who is ranked No. 12 on ESPN’s big board, may not be available at that spot — Cowley hears he could go in the top 10.

While the Bulls are interested in Demin, they’re lower on Maryland big man Derik Queen. A source tells Cowley that Queen — who tested poorly at the combine, per Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report — has been sliding down draft boards, and Chicago has concerns about how his lack of athleticism would fit in the team’s up-tempo playing style.

K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network (Twitter video link) hears the Bulls will likely end up taking the best player available at No. 12, but they would “prefer” to select a big man or wing. And if they do go with a guard, it will likely be someone with the size to play multiple positions — Demin seems to fit that bill, as he’s a 6’9″ point guard.

Johnson, who also noted that Queen might slide on draft night, says that North Carolina wing Drake Powell recently had a “very, very impressive” workout with the Bulls and could return a second time. Johnson isn’t sure if Powell will be selected in the lottery — he’s No. 32 on ESPN’s board — but he performed well in both athletic testing and interviews at the combine.

For what it’s worth, in his latest mock draft, Wasserman has Chicago selecting South Carolina forward Collin Murray-Boyles at No. 12 and Wake Forest guard Hunter Sallis at No. 45.

Draft Notes: Raynaud, Coward, Combine, Chinyelu, Demary

May 19th, 2025 at 10:33am CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of the NBA’s 2025 draft combine, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo have updated their mock draft, taking into account which prospects saw their stock rise – or decline – as a result of their performances in Chicago.

While there weren’t any major changes at the top of ESPN’s latest mock, there were some movers further down the draft order. Stanford big man Maxime Raynaud, for instance, was considered one of the big winners of the combine due to his strong play during scrimmages. After coming in at No. 34 in ESPN’s mock draft last Monday, Raynaud has jumped to No. 24 in the newest version.

Forward Cedric Coward was another prospect who moved up from the second round (No. 35) in ESPN’s previous mock draft to the first round (No. 30) in today’s update. Although Coward has committed to transferring from Washington State to Duke, signs are pointing to him keeping his name in the draft and going pro, according to Woo.

Coward, whose 2024/25 season was cut short due to a shoulder injury, has limited reps against high-level competition despite spending four seasons in college, which is a concern for some NBA teams who are “hesitant about his surprising rise,” Woo adds.

Here are a few more draft-related notes:

A panel of ESPN draft experts and analysts share their takeaways from last week’s combine, while Cyro Asseo de Choch of HoopsHype identifies his winners and losers from the event. His list of winners includes prospects like UNC’s Drake Powell, UConn’s Liam McNeeley, and Rasheer Fleming of St. Joseph’s, while Maryland’s Derik Queen, Michigan State’s Jase Richardson, and Michigan’s Vladislav Goldin are among his losers.
John Hollinger of The Athletic has also shared his impressions from the combine, including the best and worst performers in scrimmages, as well as the player measurements that stood out for better (like Thomas Sorber‘s 7’6″ wingspan) or worse (Richardson’s height coming in below 6’1″).
After declaring for the 2025 NBA draft as an early entrant, Florida center Rueben Chinyelu has decided to pull out and return to school for his junior season, per Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Chinyelu was a full-time starter for the national champions in 2024/25, averaging 6.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks in 19.0 minutes per game across 40 outings.
According to Rothstein (Twitter link), sophomore guard Silas Demary Jr. is also withdrawing from the draft after testing the waters as an early entrant. Demary, who is transferring to UConn for his junior year, spent his first two college seasons with Georgia, averaging 13.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.7 steals per game in 33 starts for the team last season. He made just 39.6% of his shots from the floor, but had a solid 37.4% mark on three-pointers.