If the Portland Trail Blazers wanted to select a center in the 2025 NBA Draft, they should've gone with Maryland's Derik Queen instead of gambling on Yang Hansen. Queen was frequently mocked to the Blazers, who initially had the No. 11 overall pick before surprisingly trading back to No. 16 with the Memphis Grizzlies.
They already hit at the center position with Donovan Clingan the year prior, but the idea behind the Hansen selection was that he'd provide them a different frontcourt dimension. Clingan makes most of his impact on the defensive end with his elite rebounding and rim protection, while Hansen's upside lies in his Nikola Jokic-lite skill set as a potential offensive hub, with his high basketball IQ and court vision. Additionally, Clingan's safe floor as a quality starting center provided the Blazers with insurance to swing for upside, knowing they were already set at the position regardless.
While this was all great in theory, Hansen's shaky rookie season has many wondering if this vision will ever come to fruition. We may not know the answer to that question for several years, as the 20-year-old appears to be a bigger project than the Blazers initially expected.
Derik Queen's rookie season should make the Blazers regret their draft decision
Meanwhile, Queen is already producing for the New Orleans Pelicans. He's averaging a well-rounded 12.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.1 steals per game on 50/19/77 shooting splits. That doesn't even tell the whole story, as he's continued to improve as the season has progressed. In fact, Queen is coming off a triple-double performance in their win over the Washington Wizards, recording 14 points, 16 rebounds, and 12 assists.
The 2025 draft class looks incredibly promising early on, and the fact that Queen is somehow still emerging as a standout rookie is extremely telling for the trajectory of his career. Everything we said about Portland's reasoning for the Hansen pick applies to Queen. He has similar strengths, with the difference being that he's actually been able to effectively apply those at the NBA level.
Queen was a polarizing prospect as many questioned how he would fit in the modern NBA. In some ways, he's the exact opposite of Clingan, who has suddenly become a two-way force as a dominant interior presence who's also able to reliably space the floor. That's become incredibly valuable in the modern NBA, but the 6-foot-9 Queen possesses neither. He also had a historically bad combine. Yet none of this matters when the ball tips off. He's even somehow found ways to use these weaknesses to his advantage as someone who's become a matchup nightmare.
That's what the Blazers overlooked in their decision to pass on Queen and trade back for Hansen. In theory, the size differential gives Portland's rookie more upside. But they overanalyzed their draft decision, forgetting who is simply the better basketball player when it's all said and done.