On draft night last week, the New Orleans Pelicans shocked the NBA community, and not in a good way.
Surprisingly, the new front office brain trust of Troy Weaver and Joe Dumars chose to move up into the end of the lottery to acquire the rights to the Atlanta Hawks’ No. 13 overall pick, center Derik Queen, from the University of Maryland.
In what is expected to be a loaded 2026 draft, the Pelicans only had to pay for the rights to Georgia power forward/center Asa Newell, who is currently ranked No. 23 and the team’s unprotected first-round pick.
Given how tenuous this New Orleans roster is looking, that pick seems likely to land in the lottery. Putting no lottery-proofing protections on it feels borderline certifiable.
According to Shamit Dua of In The N.O., which was shared by ESPN’s Dan Devine, Hawks management wasn’t entirely sure that deal was real because Atlanta (who, let’s not forget, had a fantastic offseason in acquiring modern talent upgrades too) stood to gain so much from it.
“One Eastern executive with knowledge of how the conversation went from Atlanta’s perspective described a perplexing scene,” noted Dua. “When Senior Vice President Troy Weaver made the call to Atlanta’s Bryson Graham, Graham couldn’t believe what was actually being offered.”
Last week, the Pelicans also selected Jeremiah Fears, an undersized guard from Oklahoma, with the seventh overall pick.
“Graham asked for clarification multiple times to confirm the unprotected pick was indeed part of the deal,” Dua says. At one point, Onsi Saleh, the general manager of the Hawks, called Joe Dumars directly to get his own confirmation. In the hopes that he wouldn’t recognize and turn back the transaction, the Hawks anxiously awaited Dumars’ confirmation. However, the Pelicans persevered, and the Hawks were able to get their bargain.
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