The New Orleans Pelicans will once again be represented in the Castrol Rising Stars showcase.
A pair of Pelicans’ rookies – guard Jeremiah Fears and center Derik Queen – were selected for the event that will take place in February during All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles.
The rosters for the Rising Stars were announced Monday evening.
It's the seventh straight year the Pelicans have had at least one player in the Rising Stars Game, which consists of rookies and second-year players.
Fears, who played collegiately at Oklahoma, was the No. 7 overall pick in the 2025 draft. He’s the only player on the team who has played in all 48 games this season. He’s started 44 games. Fears is averaging 13.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists. He scored a season-high 24 points in a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in November.
Queen, who played at Maryland, was drafted with the No. 13 overall pick after the Pelicans made a much talked about trade to move up from the 23rd pick. Queen has played in 47 games and is averaging 12.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists. His rebounds and assists lead the team. Queen has recorded two triple doubles this season. Hie best game was when he scored 33 points to go with 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a loss to the San Antonio Spurs in December.
The showcase will be held on Feb. 13. It will be a mini-tournament with four teams. The players selected Monday will be drafted onto three teams Tuesday. The fourth team will consist of G-League players.
Honorary coaches for the teams will be Hall of Famers Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady. Austin Rivers, who was drafted by the then-New Orleans Hornets in 2012, will coach the G-League Rising Stars team.
The other eight rookies selected for the game are: Cedric Coward (Grizzlies), Egor Demin (Nets), VJ Edgecombe (76ers), Cooper Flagg (Mavericks), Dylan Harper (Spurs), Tre Johnson (Wizards), Kon Knueppel (Hornets) and Collin Murray-Boyles (Raptors).