Derik Queen was one of the 30 NBA Draft prospects who had their NBA dreams realized in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday. And one of his first moves as an NBA player was a bit of a unique one, updating his LinkedIn account to inform his network of his “new position” on the platform.
While Queen was officially selected by the Atlanta Hawks No. 13 overall, he’ll be going to the New Orleans Pelicans as part of a trade that will include a 2026 first-rounder going back to Atlanta.
In terms of the value given up by the Pelicans, many in the sports media space, including Bill Simmons and Nick Wright, were incredibly critical of the move to trade up to select Queen. But Queen, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in his lone season at Maryland, appears quite eager to prove them wrong.
In a post on LinkedIn, Queen informed his network of his “new position” in the Pelicans organization, letting Pelicans fans know how eager he is to meet them when he lands in New Orleans.
“I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as a Professional Basketball Player at New Orleans Pelicans!” wrote Queen in his LinkedIn post on Thursday. “Can’t wait to touch down in New Orleans and greet the fans!”
It’s far from the typical introduction post from a particular draft pick, which usually comes on X or Instagram, which the Pelicans’ social media team poked fun at in a post on X shortly after Queen’s post.
“Derik Queen’s draft night schedule: 1. Get drafted 2. Update LinkedIn,” wrote the Pelicans on X.
Derik Queen’s draft night schedule:
1. Get drafted
2. Update @LinkedIn 😂 pic.twitter.com/I2nag3eck8
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) June 26, 2025
In at least one sense, Queen isn’t your average 20-year-old kid entering the NBA. So it will be interesting to see if he can also separate himself from most of the other players in his draft class on the court as well in his rookie season.