Derik Queen

 Very short one today because I am not in the writiest of moods. I wanted to get this on my blog with a time stamp so that if this prediction pans out I can come back to this with the evidence that I called it. Of course, if it doesn't pan out then this will be buried and never spoken about again, win win! I am here to tell you, after watching 1 highlight reel video, Derik Queen is going to be the best player taken in the 2025 NBA draft. 


Derik Queen is not an obvious NBA fit. Standing at 6'10, 246lbs, Queen plays mostly center in college. There's questions in the NBA about a big framed center who doesn't have the length to protect the rim, typically those guys can't impact games on defense which is the most important skill for a center. What Queen does provide though is a bag that I feel is deeper than anyone in the draft. I have seen Queen face guys up from the perimeter and use his handle to create driving lanes. I've seen him demonstrate nasty footwork in the post to bamboozle defenders then finish in a variety of ways with his soft touch. He can execute the Embiid style mid range jumper when a defender sags back on him and use his size and strength to bully his way to the rim when a defender plays him tight. He's a beast on the glass who gets up for multiple putbacks a game to go along with his supreme offensive skill set. While his assist numbers don't jump off the page, he's a good decision maker and passer at the college level and with his scoring skillset I believe he can become one of the hub centers the NBA is starting to move towards. Since he's undersized for the position, I think Queen is going to slide a bit in the first round. If the Raptors end up with the 7th pick I think there's a good chance Queen is there for the taking. The Raptors haven't had a pure bucket getter at the center position maybe ever, and Queen is just that guy. I'll be watching Maryland in the tournament this week so I can get a better idea of how good this guy really is, but as of now I think the Raptors would be lucky to slide into a position to draft him.


I might be completely wrong about this, and I am 100% an uninformed voice here, but from what I've seen, give me Queen. That's that for today! Really short one, maybe if something cool happens in the Raptors game I'll be back tomorrow to make up for it, but they've been desperately trying to not be interesting lately so I don't like the odds of that one. Go Raptors. 

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