Some fans are starting to believe the New Orleans Pelicans are cursed.
On Friday, the team announced that incoming rookie Derik Queen underwent a successful surgery after suffering a left wrist injury.
Queen received the injury during a Summer League game against the Portland Trail Blazers.
The surgery went well, but now Queen will be out for approximately 12 weeks, which means that his rookie season may be off to a rough start.
The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that forward/center Derik Queen underwent successful surgery to address a torn scapholunate ligament in his left wrist. The surgery was performed this morning by Dr. Steven Shin in Los Angeles, California.
Queen sustained the injury… pic.twitter.com/6uIgQk4L1P
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) July 18, 2025
Queen has put together some good games during the Summer League, averaging a double-double and showing that he could provide great strength to the team’s frontcourt.
But with several months of recovery on the horizon, his path ahead doesn’t look clear.
He is going to miss all of training camp and will probably not be on the court when the new season kicks off in the fall.
He was building good chemistry with his teammates and was getting fans excited, so this news is truly heartbreaking for the Pelicans.
Hopefully, it’s the last injury update for the squad for a while.
Last year, the team was positively decimated by physical problems, and everyone is nervous about that happening again.
They are fearful that Queen’s news will be just the first of many bad breaks for the team in 2025-26.
Hopefully, that isn’t the case and the new season looks a lot better for the Pelicans.
Queen has a lot of promise, and the good news is that he was showing it all during the Summer League.
This injury is setting him back, but there is still every reason to believe that he is capable of great things.
