It might be an exaggeration to say Derik Queen's stock has slid, but there has been growing uncertainty about whether the former Maryland basketball star is still a surefire lottery pick.
"While his stock has remained somewhat solid, Queen also didn't necessarily help himself at the combine, where he didn't shoot the ball convincingly in drills, tested poorly and didn't show up in noticeably better playing shape," ESPN's Jeremy Woo wrote. "His offensive instincts, interior scoring ability and high basketball IQ are still strong selling points, but there was perhaps a missed opportunity to change some of the narratives around him as a prospect, with scouts wanting to see him make major improvements to his frame long-term"
There's been a bunch of chatter about Queen's stock slipping because of that combine performance. A month or so after there was some top-five talk about Queen, Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman has him going 13th to the Atlanta Hawks and Kevin O'Connor of Yahoo Sports wrote that his draft stock got "dinged" at the combine by "concern over his conditioning and his lack of progress as a shooter."
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Former NBA standout Quentin Richardson chimed on in X.
"Seeing little stuff about Maryland young star Derik Queen sliding down draft boards because of athleticism. Crazy to see. This kid is easily a top 5 top 10 pick!! If he were from overseas nobody would care about his athleticism. Look at where Joker started. Not saying he could be Joker but Joker is not athletic either. Queen can do it all on the court and that should matter," he wrote.
In ESPN's latest big board, he's ranked the 13th-best prospect in the draft. Woo wrote on May 19, when he projected Queen to go 12th to the Chicago Bulls:
"Queen had an excellent season at Maryland and is in the mix for teams as high as the mid-lottery, but he looks to have a bit of a wider range. He came in at a legitimate 6-10 in shoes but fared poorly in athletic testing at the combine and didn't shoot convincingly in drills. Though unsurprising, those are two key areas for his long-term development that teams will question as he hits the workout circuit.
"He's a major offensive talent whose skill set separates him from the other bigs in this class -- ultimately, his film should speak louder than the combine data -- and whichever team selects him will believe it can get the most out of him. His proponents around the league see an intelligent player whose potential is high."
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