There's no lack of disagreement on Derik Queen's NBA potential. The former Maryland basketball star is viewed by some as a future star because of his prodigious on-court IQ, but others question his upside because of his limited explosiveness and lack of a 3-point shot at this stage of his development. We won't know who was correct, of course, until several years into Queen's NBA career.
But one of the most veteran college basketball analysts is clearly in the positive camp, calling Queen the "steal of 2025 NBA Draft."
Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News wrote:
There are any number of theories as to why Maryland Terrapins big man Derik Queen appears destined to become the most misevaluated player in the 2025 NBA Draft, including the one that is most logical and comes from a significantly authoritative source.
*"He's not super flashy. He's not going to dunk on somebody. He's not touching the top of the backboard," Villanova's Kevin Willard, who coached Queen's one season with the Terps, told Sporting News. "He's an old-school type player … He's efficient. He's so good of a player that I don't think people really were looking in and digesting what he was doing because he wasn't doing it in a flashy way."*
Queen remains a consensus pick in the latter part of the lottery in mock drafts, with the Chicago Bulls at No. 12 the most popular prediction. But he could go higher. The Field of 68's Jeff Goodman reported that the New Orleans Pelicans like the 6-9 freshman at No. 7. He wrote:
"The New Orleans Pelicans, with a new management group, really like Maryland freshman big man Derik Queen, source told The Field Of 68. The Pelicans have the 7th overall pick in the draft. Queen is a skilled big man who averaged 16.5 points and 9 boards for the Terps."
If picked in the top 14, Queen would be Maryland's third lotto pick in the past 12 years, joining Jalen Smith (10th in 2020) and Alex Len (fifth in 2013).
Top college basketball broadcaster Robbie Hummel told DeCourcy: "You think about Maryland's team, they had plenty of options ... It's funny, because if it didn't work and that story got out, people would have been just all over Willard. But it worked, and he makes the play he did, and it looks like a genius move. It's a real show of confidence. It was a heck of a play."
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