Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver, who lead the front office of the New Orleans Pelicans, were widely panned for trading an unprotected 2026 1st-round pick to move up an select Derik Queen, but that talk has died down of late, as Queen has been one of the league’s top rookies.
The Pistons and Pelicans have plenty of connections, as one of the greatest Pistons of all time, Joe Dumars, is now New Orleans team president and former Detroit GM Troy Weaver is now doing the same job in the Big Easy.
The Pistons have former Pelicans GM Trajan Langdon running their front office now, so these two teams certainly have some ties. That’s especially true considering Weaver was the one who drafted most of Detroit’s core and does have to be given some credit for that, especially with guys like Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson, who were not no-brainer picks.
Weaver and Dumars showed that same eye for talent with their selection of Queen, which looked like a huge mistake at first, as the Pels were at the bottom of the league, and it appeared they might be handing over a top-five pick to the Hawks.
The Pelicans are still just 8-23, so let’s not get carried away here, but they do appear to have a player to build around in Queen, whose game is the kind that could be sustainable in the NBA forever, as he can do a little of everything well for a big man.
The question is whether Dumars et al. can do the hard part.
Weaver’s failures with the Pistons were not about talent
We know Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver can pick players, as both guys had hits in the draft, but there’s far more to building a team than drafting successfully, as Pistons fans know all too well.
The Pelicans may have been somewhat vindicated by the fact Queen is really good, but it was still a costly trade that they probably could have made without giving up an unprotected pick. The Hawks were so surprised by the offer that they legitimately thought they were being pranked, which is a pretty good sign you’ve offered too much.
Unless Queen puts himself in the MVP discussion at some point, it’s always going to be difficult to justify that trade, especially if Atlanta ends up with a good pick and the player they get also pops, as it’s a guy the Pels could have had next to Queen and Fears.
This was always the issue with Weaver, as he could pick talent, but always lost trades and took chances on players who had flamed out elsewhere, as he did with Jordan Poole, who has lost his starting spot to a 19-year-old rookie.
This was the exact type of job Weaver did with Detroit, as he was able to find the young talent but never complemented them with the right veterans.
If the Pels continue to win, that trade will look better and better, especially if the pick ends up falling out of the top five, as New Orleans has a player in Queen that they can build around, so Dumars and Weaver have been proven right for now, but it could still cost them down the road.