In ESPN’s post-lottery mock draft, Jonathan Givony makes the case for the Portland Trail Blazers to select Maryland’s Derik Queen with their 11th pick. At 6-10 and 250 lbs, the 20-year-old Queen would be Portland’s second straight center chosen in the first round, after Donovan Clingan in 2024. Queen’s Terrapins fell to the eventual champion Florida Gators in the third round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Here’s what Givony said about his potential fit in Rip City.
Queen’s lack of shooting might not be an ideal fit on paper for a Portland team that already struggled from the perimeter, but his talent might be too big to pass on, especially if Clingan can make a jump with his shooting like he showed flashes of in small doses as a rookie.
Multiple sites have updated their profiles for Queen with extended analysis, including nbadraft.net and Yahoo Sports. Prior to their team’s move up the draft board, Sixers SBN site Liberty Ballers had a lot to say about him. And over at Reddit, the Toronto Raptors sub was decidedly underimpressed with Queen’s NBA Combine score. However, you can check him out yourself, with his NCAA Tourney highlights.
The first round of the 2025 NBA Draft will take place on June 25th on ESPN, with the second round on the 26th.