Derik Queen will forever be intertwined with the Atlanta Hawks, and the rookie forward made it loud and clear he’s been looking forward to Wednesday night’s matchup between the two squads.
Queen was technically drafted 13th overall by Atlanta, who immediately traded his rights to New Orleans for the 23rd pick (Asa Newell) and a 2026 unprotected NOP/MIL first round swap. This trade was universally considered a massive win for the Hawks, with some analysts going as far as to claim the ‘26 swap was one of the most valuable draft assets traded in NBA history.