Derik Queen averaged 16.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game in his lone college season with Maryland. The 20-year-old was a first-team All-Big Ten performer, and he also took home the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award. Additionally, the 6-foot-10, 245-pound wrecking ball had one of the biggest moments of March Madness, banking home a buzzer-beating, one-legged game winner against a feisty Colorado State team in the Round of 64. Queen will now look to make his mark on the NBA, and it seems like he'll end up being a lottery pick. However, like many players in this draft — and many traditional centers — Queen is polarizing.
Back in February, Kevin Willard, who recently left Maryland to be the head coach of Villanova, said, "If he [Queen] was European and white, he'd be the first pick in the draft." It was an outrageous statement. There's nothing that backs it up, and Queen's flaws would be a problem no matter where he came from. But it was interesting to hear Willard compare Queen to a European center, as his combination of touch, footwork, and passing ability is extremely advanced. Generally speaking, you don't get that type of skill level from college bigs right away. It's the type of thing that is developed slowly in an international system.
Queen isn't Nikola Jokic—nobody is. But there's something special about the way he moves as a big, pudgy center. With a guy like Queen, your first instinct is to look at him and yell that he should be backing his man down, getting them underneath the basket and finishing at the rim, or drawing a foul. And make no mistake about it, Queen can do that. But he's so much more than just a burly power player.
Queen has an awesome face-up game, thanks to a feathery mid-range shot and the ability to make any move in the book. When he gets the ball 12 feet away from the basket and turns towards the rim, he can put his defender in a torture chamber. This isn't just a pump-fake-and-go situation either. He can really dribble the basketball, and there were several occasions this season in which he crossed an opposing big out of their shoes and got to the basket. He even beat some guards off the bounce. Queen is also great at finishing once he gets to the basket, which is why he's also a superb pick-and-roll play finisher — with a good set of hands not hurting either.
As a passer, Queen will shock you with his ability to find teammates. It's so easy for him to create offense for himself that you just wouldn't expect him to be able to carve defenses up. But he's always surveying the floor, looking for cutters or opportunities to pass over the defense to find open shooters. Queen had 11 games with at least three assists at Maryland. That might not sound like a lot, but Bart Torvik had Queen with an assist rate of 11.6 this season. Well, the list of freshmen centers to have an assist rate of at least 11.5, an Offensive Box Plus-Minus of at least 4.0, and a defensive rebound rate of at least 24 (Queen's is 24.5) isn't a long one when going back to 2010. It's Queen and Joel Embiid. That's it.
Queen also looks like a player who should be able to stretch out and become a good three-point shooter. He only knocked down 20.0% of his triples at Maryland, but Willard didn't want him taking many after a slow start to the season. But Queen did hit two threes in two of his final four games, and it's hard not to like the long-term potential of a 76.6% free throw shooter that flashes elite touch everywhere else on the court. That's especially true when considering how crucial it'll be for him to become a serviceable floor spacer at the next level. He'll immediately work on it with his next coaching staff, and he's a good bet to figure it all out.
The issue with Queen is that he's going to need a big offensive role in order to warrant being an early selection. If you're not taking advantage of his entire offensive arsenal, you're going to be shortchanged. Queen is a pretty lousy defender right now. Perhaps he will improve as he gets in better shape and adds some strength, but he's probably never going to be a good rim protector or plus-level one-on-one defender. So, he's going to need to be special offensively, and it's going to take a commitment from his next franchise in order for him to do that.
Overall, Queen's skill set is fascinating, and he should terrorize defenses for years to come. But how will he do it? Can he be a Domantas Sabonis-level player? Or is he going to be an instant-offense big that comes in and plays 15-20 minutes a night? The answer should be a little closer to the former than the latter, but it all depends on where he lands and how quickly he can address some of his minor deficiencies.