Pelicans exercise 2027-28 options on Missi, Fears and Queen
New Orleans picked up the 2027-28 team options on center Yves Missi, guard Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen on Tuesday, Oct. 20, a day before the Pelicans open the regular season at home against Indiana.
NEW ORLEANS: The Pelicans settled the near future of three young players on Tuesday, Oct. 20. The club exercised its 2027-28 team options on center Yves Missi, guard Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen, according to the Associated Press, in moves announced the day before the regular-season opener.
The decisions are not the same for each player. Missi, who is entering his third season, had a fourth-year option picked up. Fears and Queen, both entering their second seasons after arriving as 2025 first-round picks, had third-year options picked up. Hoops Rumors, reporting figures from Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, put the 2027-28 values at $8.27 million for Fears, $5.67 million for Queen and $5.6 million for Missi.
What each player has already done
Missi came to New Orleans as the 21st overall pick out of Baylor in the 2024 draft. The AP credits him with 139 appearances and 81 starts over his first two seasons, 19 career double-doubles, and per-game career marks of 7.1 rebounds, 7.5 points and 1.4 blocks across 23.4 minutes. His second season was smaller than his first: Hoops Rumors lists 66 games and 14 starts in 2025-26, after 67 starts as a rookie, with averages of 5.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 19.7 minutes.
Fears, the seventh overall pick out of Oklahoma in 2025, played in every game as a rookie. The AP records 82 appearances and 49 starts, a place on the NBA All-Rookie second team, and a rookie line of 3.4 assists, 14.3 points and 3.7 rebounds a game across 25.8 minutes a night. He reached double figures 59 times, with 17 games of 20 points or more.
Queen, taken 13th overall out of Maryland in the same 2025 draft, also made the All-Rookie second team. In 81 games, with 48 starts and about 25 minutes a night, he averaged 11.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists, the AP reported, and his two triple doubles were the most by any rookie last season.
The timing puts the paperwork behind the club before the games begin. New Orleans opens the regular season on Wednesday night, Oct. 21, at the Smoothie King Center against the Indiana Pacers.
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