With the No. 11 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, the Portland Trail Blazers have a golden opportunity to land Deandre Ayton's long-term replacement by selecting Maryland big man Derik Queen.
After two seasons with Portland, we have a large enough sample size to say the Ayton experiment hasn't gone according to plan. At this point, we have to look past the excuses -- whether it's blaming his rough transition from sleeping on an air mattress or missing a game due to inclement weather -- and accept that this is simply who Ayton is.
His contract relative to production and the emergence of All-Rookie Donovan Clingan make Ayton more than just expendable -- the Blazers should be exploring all options to offload his salary. There are two silver linings, however. One is that the Blazers acquired their All-Defensive wing, Toumani Camara. The other is that Ayton's unjustifiable $35.6 million salary is set to expire after next season.
Blazers still need to address their center position
One question surrounding Portland's roster is that they currently have four centers and just spent a top-ten pick on Clingan last summer. Do they want to continue investing in the position? But of their four centers -- Clingan, Ayton, Robert Williams III, and Duop Reath -- the UConn product is the only one they should consider part of their core going forward.
Neither Williams nor Reath is a reliable center. The former was limited to just 20 games last season due to another knee injury, while the latter wasn't productive enough to earn Chauncey Billups' trust despite the frontcourt injuries.
That, combined with Clingan's current conditioning problem as a center who has likely capped at 25 minutes a game -- especially keeping up with the pace Portland likes to play at -- means that center is suddenly going to go from a strength to a position of need.
It's not necessarily a position the Blazers must urgently address with Ayton, Williams, and Reath all under contract for 2025-26, but it's also a case where the Blazers shouldn't let that deter them from taking another center if it's the best player available.
If Queen does fall to No. 11, that could be the case for Portland.
Derik Queen should be one of Portland's top draft options
Queen averaged 16.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.1 blocks, and 1.1 steals on 53/20/77 shooting splits at Maryland. There's no denying that his combine was a glaring red flag, but that could be a blessing in disguise for a team like the Blazers picking late in the lottery because otherwise, Queen would be a top pick based on his skill set.
He's a unique big-man prospect, reminiscent of Alperen Sengun, who fell to pick No. 16 in the 2021 NBA Draft due to concerns surrounding his fit at the NBA level. Queen has those similar question marks -- he's not going to be a rim protector to anchor an elite defense given his frame and athleticism, but he's also not quick enough or a reliable floor spacer to play the four.
But the reality is that unless you are selecting Cooper Flagg, there's no such thing as a flawless prospect. What Queen does is he does exceptionally well -- better than anyone in the class, to the point where he could have an All-Star ceiling. The Blazers need upside, and Queen offers that with his rare ballhandling, elite court vision, and throwback footwork for a center.
His lack of shooting is the one thing that makes this not a perfect fit for Portland. But, in terms of everything else, surprisingly, he's exactly what they need. The Blazers have the rim protector in Clingan. They also have versatile athletes to compensate for Queen's weaknesses and complement his strengths, as he can be the hub for their high flyers.
There are some similarities between Ayton and Queen's game in that Ayton doesn't offer elite rim protection or effectively space the floor beyond the arc. But Queen has Ayton beat in terms of basketball IQ and versatility as a ballhandler and playmaker.
At this point in his career, we already know who Ayton is as a player. That's a serviceable starting-level center. But it's nowhere near the money he's owed.
By replacing him with Queen, the Blazers would find a higher upside option that's significantly younger and cheaper. He'd not only help clear the path for Clingan, but he'd also be the ideal complementary frontcourt piece.