Derik Queen: The Blizzard With All the Toppings

So I am sitting in my room, the day after returning from a road trip to Colorado that included lots of trees, some hiking, and a trip to Ball Arena in Denver for some college basketball. I wasn’t watching these games too closely as I was pretty tired, but when I saw Maryland was in a close game with Colorado State, I had to tune in.

Derik Queen, ladies and gentlemen.

This kid has all the sauce, or as I am putting it, due to his name and NIL deal with Dairy Queen, he’s a blizzard with all the toppings on it. Queen was one of the eight projected first rounders I was able to see this season in person, plus the dozen or so more of players who will be drafted in the second round, and two way players, and I look back at his game I saw and it is easily one of the most impressive performances I saw from a prospect this year, only rivaled by Dylan Harper, and Liam McNeeley’s record breaking game against Creighton. So what exactly makes Derik Queen’s milkshake bring me to the yard?

Offensive Maestro

Any evaluation of Derik Queen has to start with his clear outlier skills on the offensive end. Since Queen was a high schooler at Monteverde, on a squad with 4 first-rounders and a 3 million dollar transfer in Rob Wright, it was clear that his skill with the ball is not normal for someone of his size. In high school, he dealt with weight issues, once weighing 260+ pounds, but now comes in at 247 at the combine. You can see it too. Queen looks like he moves a lot more nimbly, and is overall quicker. Maryland played an incredibly short rotation this year, and Queen handled a 76% minutes share gracefully.

Queen’s handle is incredibly polished, having a soft bounce off the floor and creativity that is reminiscent of Jokic, Sengun, and Naz Reid. He can face up and score against bigs, and also has the footwork and understanding of post leverage to deal with mismatches in the post. That is really what Queen is: a walking mismatch. His touch at the rim is also incredible, shooting 60% on 175 total layup attempts, many of which were of very high difficulty.

The most intriguing part of Queen’s scoring profile is easily the jump shot. He shot at 0.93 points per possession on long two-point jumpers this season and showed a willingness to shoot. His free-throw numbers were also encouraging, shooting nearly 77% at the line. The ball very clearly comes off soft from his hand, but he doesn’t yet have the distance to shoot it from beyond the arc reliably. He even showed off some incredibly enticing turnarounds in the mid-range, even taking and making some Dirk-style one-legged fadeaways.

For some, Queen’s offensive scoring profile can be a red flag. With Nikola Jokic being the most recent in the line of all-time great offensive players, it can be easy for teams to miss on players of that archetype, hoping to hit on an archetype that will bring unrealistic rewards. But I believe Queen shares more in common with other successful “skilled bigs” like Naz Reid and Alperen Sengun. His scoring profile is much more face-up based, and while he isn’t the level of shooter that Naz Reid was at the same age, a lot of the skill inside the lane in terms of stride length and finishing touch greatly resembles the elite sixth man. Reid was also a player who dealt with weight issues early in his career, continuing to unlock athleticism as he shed weight.

He showed an ability to break presses at a high level and reliably deal with pressure. His pickup points were also advanced, being able to change his stride speed and length after the pickup. His hands are very strong, and he was able to secure the ball at a high level and avoid strips. He was also excellent at getting to the free-throw line, using his skill to put defenders in situations where they either had to let him score or foul. He posted the highest free-throw percentage of bigs this season, who forced fouls at a rate of his or higher.

Queen’s passing is also that of an outlier. His vision was high this year, showing off all three of passing to shooters, cutters, and big to big passing. While he posted a negative assist-to-turnover rate, a lot of that came from attempting dribble moves that were far too ambitious, putting himself in bad situations on a condensed college floor. Queen’s handle is more than safe.

There are shades of many great big men passers in the Maryland bigs game, including the outlet passing of Kevin Love, the short roll playmaking of Jarrett Allen, and the ability to hit cutters of a Gasol brother. In fact, per Ben Pfeifer’s hand tracking, Queen throws the most off-hand passes of any player in this class.

Queen’s passing is so versatile that I see outcomes where he could operate as a playmaking hub 5, or simply operate as a perimeter 4 mismatch who can make advanced reads. It is part of what is so exciting about his offensive profile.

Defensive Hiccups, But There is Hope

So what about Queen’s defense? Well, there’s stuff to dislike, but a few couple of really positive things to like. Maryland routinely would pre-switch ball screens to keep Queen out of the action, and put Julian Reese (who probably should’ve been conference DPOY in reality) into the action instead. This is completely understandable. Reese is a future pro who will have a spot in the G League this upcoming season, and a spot overseas if he likes, and is someone I could even see potentially carving out a spot as a 3rd big in the league. But this is concerning for Queen. He was very poor at backpedaling in pick and roll, but his one saving grace is that he is one of the best players I have ever seen at getting his hand inside the pocket pass.

Queen’s overall defensive playmaking skill is actually quite good. He posted the 11th-best steal rate among players listed at least 6’10” who played 50% or more of their team’s minutes per Barttorvik this season, and has a lot of good tape to like in that area. He has awesome hands here as well, always getting his hands on the ball and, most importantly, securing it. Due to Queen’s skill on the open floor, this frequently led to free points on the other end and large momentum swings.

Up close against Nebraska, it was also apparent that Queen was a big communicator on the defensive end. While he isn’t the biggest pointer, you could often see Queen communicating and helping his teammates navigate the floor in order to excecute a proper defensive possesion. His instincts are quite good.

Queen was also a generally good lateral mover on the defensive end, having some “big ballerina” qualities that lend themselves to walling up smaller players on drives.

He was also a very good rebounder, using his ever-so-important and recurring hands to both go up with other bigs and outmuscle them, or tip rebounds repeatedly to himself. Using the same Barttorvik query of high major players 6’10” or taller who played >50% minute share, Queen ranks 6th in defensive rebounding rate, and 40th in offensive, all while playing in a two-big lineup with Julian Reese for the majority of his minutes. Queen’s offensive role doesn’t lend itself to lots of offensive rebounds either, as his play on the perimeter doesn’t lend itself to lots of offensive rebounding opportunities.

So, despite these good qualities, why was Maryland keeping Queen out of their actions on the defensive end? Well, there are really three reasons. For one, Queen isn’t super vertical. This could be an issue with his current weight. Although his size has improved, frankly, Queen started at such a low point that he was always going to end this season behind in terms of his shape. He only posted a block rate of 3.8%, and watching the tape, it is pretty clear he isn’t some elite rim protector.

Queen would also make what I would call business decisions in help at times. He would just not step in and stop the driver. It’s as simple as that. I don’t doubt that there was some coaching from Kevin Willard and staff not wanting Queen to get into foul trouble, as they ran their 5-man starting lineup for the majority of games, but it still doesn’t leave Queen with any excuses as far as his tape.

These two issues might be bad, but both can be worked around. The more alarming one is his north-south foot speed. I said earlier Queen was a good lateral mover, but this does not apply to his ability to get up and down. He would frequently move too slowly in pick and roll if he couldn’t at first tip the pass and get blown by, and if he doesn’t first beat the driver to the spot in isolation, he is almost guaranteed to lose the rep due to having poor recovery speed. He also has pretty poor ground coverage and was slow to close out to shooters.

Ground coverage is almost inarguably the most important trait in the modern NBA defensively, and Queen being so lackluster in that department is not good for his long-term projection. This is part of the reason why he is seen as such a fit dependent prospect.

Outlook and Projection

So, what is the fit for Queen? Where does someone throw a current non-floor spacer with defensive issues, but clear unteachable skills on the offensive end? Well, I think there are a lot of fits. I currently have Queen number 5 on my board, in a tier of 3-5. That doesn’t mean I think Queen goes in the top 5, as some teams could have a different board. One fit that makes so much sense is the Washington Wizards.

I have alluded to Queen potentially being more of a 4, and with the past 3 or so months of NBA showing that the double big lineup and power forward are kinda back, I think Alex Sarr and Derik Queen cover each other’s weaknesses perfectly. Queen is more of a creator than Sarr, and offers the rebounding and rim pressure Sarr does not, whereas Sarr’s floor spacing and ground coverage helps Queen have space to play in on both ends. Both bigs are also good passers, with Queen likely being the better one. Queen is also from Baltimore, growing up near Washington DC, and grew up playing with Bub Carrington, living just a couple of doors down from each other.

I also think it could be worth the Jazz taking a swing on his talent at 5, and hoping he turns into a Sengun type of player. Same goes for the Nets at 8, and Bulls at 12, which I tend to see as his floor on draft night.

I believe Derik Queen will have a long career in the NBA. This kind of skill on a big and proven level of production doesn’t come along very often, as does the character that Queen has shown in interviews. He just has to find the right fit.