The New Orleans Pelicans were one of the boldest teams at the first round of the 2025 NBA draft on Wednesday night. They traded the No. 23 pick in the 2025 draft and an unprotected 2026 first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for the No. 13 pick in the 2025 draft. The 2026 first-round pick will be the most favorable of the New Orleans and Milwaukee picks, both of which currently belong to the Pelicans.
The Pelicans then used the 13th pick to select Maryland star center Derik Queen. While Queen is an exciting player who could help the Pelicans for years, it was a bold move.
The Pelicans didn’t perform well last season, finishing with a 21-61 win-loss record. If they are bad again, they could have traded away the No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft just to trade up a few spots in 2025. This move prompted a fan on Reddit to ask if the Pelicans traded away AJ Dybantsa.
Did the Pelicans trade away AJ Dysbantsa?
byu/BigWalrus22 inNBA_Draft
Fans reacted in the comments, with many criticizing New Orleans for the move.
“All for the 13th pick is crazy,” one fan wrote.
“They won’t be this bad next year, the sheer amount of injuries was mind-boggling. They won’t be good, but they cannot be as bad again,” another commented.
“Remember y’all. Always use protection,” one fan added.
Fans continued to react in the comments:
“There really is some dumb people that end up in important positions for sports teams. Feel like anyone one here could’ve came away doing better,” one fan wrote.
“If that picks unprotected that is an absolute head scratcher…for Derik Queen,” another commented.
“One of the worst drafts I’ve seen by any team for a long long time,” one fan added.
The New Orleans Pelicans Will Give the Best of Their Two 2026 First-Round Picks to Atlanta
Part of the reason fans are so hypercritical of this move is because the Pelicans are nearly guaranteed to give up a high pick next year. The Pelicans themselves were one of the worst teams in the NBA last season, and are unlikely to be among the best in the league.
Even if the Pelicans have a tremendous season, they need to give up the best of their two first-round picks. They have Milwaukee’s pick, which should be in the 20s. However, there are rumors that the Bucks could trade away Giannis Antetokounmpo. If they trade him, the Bucks could fall to the bottom of the NBA standings. The Pelicans have taken a big risk making this trade.
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