Finding small joys in New Orleans

On Derik Queen, Jeremiah Fears, Micah Peavy, and why I love regular-season basketball

All summer, media and fans have pounded the New Orleans Pelicans for a series of baffling moves and misvalued trades. Hiring Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver to run the team; giving the Pacers their pick back after Haliburton already had a calf injury in the Finals (Indiana is currently 1-11); trading CJ McCollum for the privilege of an extra year of Jordan Poole (who is shooting 35% from the field this season); giving away next year’s unprotected pick to the Atlanta Hawks to move up a couple of spots in the draft. None of these would receive high marks from an independent jury (although at least Saddiq Bey, acquired with Poole, is playing well!).

Add in Zion Williamson’s annual injury woes, and it’s no wonder the Pelicans have started 2-9. I get why people want to dump on them.

But while I’m obligated to talk honestly about these things, I don’t want to be that guy just continually sad-sacking a franchise. There’s a reason why I’m the only blogger on Earth who hasn’t had a Nico Harrison piece in the last few days — the dude was bad at his job, and he got fired. I’m tired of writing about it, tired of reading about it, tired of listening to podcasts about it. What else is there to say at this point?

It might be brain worms talking, but I’ve always been more of a regular-season-NBA kind of guy. The playoffs are obviously what the whole season builds toward, but they’re also Serious Business, laboring under endless talk about Legacy and Meaning. Sometimes, it’s exhausting. There’s so much at stake, the pressure so heavy, the basketball itself can’t always breathe.

I have to analyze basketball through the lens of building a contender, but that’s not really where I find my fun. I watch basketball to see the best players in the world do crazy stuff every night. I’m looking for the small joys of a killer crossover, a massive dunk, a pretty pass, or a shocking steal. I live for the playing of the game, not to watch standings.

Don’t get me wrong. Basketball is more enjoyable when it’s high quality! And it’s frustrating when a franchise feels so misguided and directionless, particularly for local fans. I get that. Memories are built on the back of big playoff runs.

But those aren’t the only good memories we’re allowed to have. We can’t focus only on the big-picture stuff, in basketball or in life. Being present in the moment means appreciating what’s happening right now. I’m here to tell you that the terrible, no-good, 2-9, Zion-less Pelicans are actually kind of fun, thanks to their three rookies. And while the future is cloudy, I won’t Marie Kondo the Pelicans from my League Pass menu. They still spark joy in me.

With that (perhaps delusional) attitude in mind, let’s get to the basketball. The lack of Williamson and Poole for the last handful of games has opened more playing time and opportunities up and down the roster. All three of New Orleans’ rookies are taking advantage.

Derik Queen generated frowning murmurs from close watchers at Summer League by showing up out of shape, but he’s been a scoring machine since Zion’s injury. He’s logged double-digits in five straight games, including a whopping 26 points on 12-for-18 shooting against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.

“Big Blizzard,” as Pels fan and fellow basketball writer

Garrison Giddens

calls him (get it? DQ? Dairy Queen?), is a funky watch. He doesn’t have the prototypical NBA body (can it be called baby fat on a 20-year-old?) or center skill set — he’s neither a shotblocker nor a floor-spacer.

Instead, Queen is just a baller. He has tremendous touch, quick-twitch hand-eye coordination, and a deep, versatile scoring bag. Already, he’s proven he can flambé defenders one-on-one. He twists around bigger guys with a sharp handle and tills through smaller defenders like freshly-plowed soil:

He has counters, too. Queen has a surprisingly quick north-south first step, and he pairs a deadly floater game with a pretty pump fake:

Queen’s most well-known as a deft passer, finding creative angles or fitting the ball into swiftly-closing windows. Some of the passes are too ambitious (his turnover rate is quite high), but you know I love a big who can sling it:

There’s a lot to like about Queen on offense. Defensively, it remains to be seen if he can hold up. The lack of vertical pop means that Queen will need to defend more with positioning and quick hands in passing lanes, à la Nikola Jokic. He’s already nabbed a number of nifty steals, and he should level out as an above-average defensive rebounder. He can’t stop fouling, though, and he’s allowed 67% shooting at the rim (a poor number). There are plenty of clips of him moving his feet on the perimeter, and just as many of him getting blown by.

But overall, Queen has surpassed admittedly rock-bottom expectations on that end. A lot of ground can be made up with experience and coaching. Queen lacks the physical tools to be a truly disruptive defender, but he can become a stouter one with greater understanding of how to use his body and where to be.

Alas, I can already see myself stanning Queen’s winning attributes for far too long because I enjoy watching him. Men the size of juvenile elephants shouldn’t be able to relevé like this:

Given Queen’s defensive limitations, much depends on him becoming an overwhelming offensive player. That will likely require him to be a weapon from long range, something that isn’t in his arsenal yet. Right now, his closest comparison is Domantas Sabonis. Queen already has more flair than Sabonis, but like the Lithuanian big man, he can’t shoot or protect the rim. It’s fair to wonder how strong his strengths will need to be if he can’t shore up his weaknesses. Then again, Sabonis is a two-time All-NBA player! Maybe that’s just fine.

(Queen also needs to stop complaining, as he’s approaching early-Jokic-level whining. He has received two technical fouls in his first 200 minutes of NBA playing time, and he’s deserved at least two more that I’ve seen. Jokic eventually grew up; Queen will, too. Probably.)

Queen isn’t the only highly-touted rookie on the roster. Jeremiah Fears (who wears number zero on his uni because he, uh, has no fears? I’ll allow it) has been so much better early in his career than I expected, given he posted some truly grotesque preseason performances. He had a 0.52 assist-to-turnover ratio in Summer League, for basketball gods’ sake! That’s unbelievably terrible.

But it seems like Fears has taken stock of a league chock-full of the world’s best athletes and realized that none of them can stop him. A lightning first step and an electric handle have repeatedly zapped defenders:

His finishing has been strong. I love the cleverness here, as he lays the ball up with his sinister hand to get under the traffic-coned Jonas Valanciunas’ desperately flailing mitts:

Despite a similar attitude, Fears doesn’t have the grasshopper legs or natural passing ability of someone like Ja Morant. His best-case scenario would be a generationally broke man’s Allen Iverson, slithering around and powering through much larger defenders to generate layups and draw oodles of free throws.

The best guards need the ability to consistently break through the defensive shell and finish at the hoop; Fears is already there. If the jumper develops further (32% from deep so far this year is actually pretty encouraging!), Fears could eventually become a top-line offensive force.

On the other side, I thought Fears would be a doormat. Here, I’m pleasantly surprised to say, he’s been competitive. You’d expect a player with Fears’ mongoose quickness to get his hands on balls, and he has. He’ll spend some years near the top of the steals leaderboard.

But Fears’ scrappiness has shone (no fears!). He’s mixed it up with several players already, and he isn’t afraid of physicality. While bigger opponents can force him back, he tries hard to stand his ground:

Fears’ small size means he’ll always be vulnerable in one-on-one situations. But if he can make ballhandlers work and supplement his value with defensive playmaking, he’ll be doing enough.

And hey, he’s even averaging more assists than turnovers! (Whew.)

This has been a thrilling leaguewide rookie class for a lot of reasons, Fears and Queen high among them. But I have to give a shoutout to Micah Peavy, too, who hasn’t hit as many radars. Peavy was a second-round pick drafted as a 3-and-D guy, and while the shot hasn’t fallen in the pros yet, his hyperactivity is catnip for someone like me. This vicious box-out (the GIF doesn’t do it justice) knocked Shaedon Sharpe back into the 1990s:

And look at Peavy hustle back to break up an alley-oop!

It’s an extremely limited sample, but per Basketball-Reference, Peavy has the highest offensive rebounding rate of any guard who has played at least 50 minutes. Fun!

Second-round picks rarely become anything of note in the NBA. It’s far too early to tell if Peavy will be an exception, but there’s absolutely no question that he’s trying his damnedest. Defense and hustle can’t always get you playing time, but they can usually at least get you a spot on the roster. My eyes always enjoy Peavy time.

Zooming out, nobody knows if Queen, Fears, or Peavy will end up being part of the next great Pelicans core. All are heavily flawed. But here’s the thing about rookies: The first step is always seeing whether their collegiate strengths can become NBA strengths. Weaknesses, to some extent, can be addressed in time. We’re not yet a dozen games into the season, but I already feel confident that Queen’s grab-bag of skills, Fears’ live-wire dynamism, and Peavy’s scrapitude will have a place in the NBA.

We won’t pretend the Pelicans will suddenly become a contender anytime soon; sustained success would likely require a change in everyone from ownership to management to coaching (shoutout to reader Mark B. for alerting me that the team isn’t announcing Willie Green with the starting lineup anymore, which feels portentous) to star players (the Zion era feels pretty close to over, one way or another). But neither should we act as though there’s nothing redeemable about this team.

There is fun to be had in small moments. The unexpected upset, the highlights, the out-of-nowhere career game. The little triumphs of young players spreading their wings and learning how to fly.

Find your joy.