![\"2025](\"https:\/\/cdn.nba.com\/teams\/uploads\/sites\/1610612762\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2207119476.jpg?im=Resize=(640)\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
NEW ORLEANS \u2014 The Bulls didn\u2019t just have center Derik Queen<\/b> on their draft board earlier this year. They had him in the building.<\/p>\n
Before the Pelicans traded up to grab Queen with the No. 13 overall pick in June, Queen visited the Bulls in Chicago and spent time with coach Billy Donovan<\/b>, who had done his homework.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was one of the guys that the front office asked me to watch,\u201d Donovan said Monday. \u201cHis head coach at Maryland, Kevin Willard<\/b>, and I are very close. Kevin worked for [Rick<\/b>] Pitino<\/b>, too, and I worked with Kevin\u2019s father at Kentucky. Certainly, [Queen] was on the board there.\u201d<\/p>\n
He just wasn\u2019t the pick for the Bulls, who instead went with French forward Noa Essengue<\/b> at No. 12. That decision is easy to criticize now, considering Queen is starting for the Pelicans \u2014 averaging 12.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists entering Monday \u2014 while Essengue is getting most of his work with the G League\u2019s Windy City Bulls. The Bulls, however, were said to have concerns about Queen\u2019s ability to play their run-and-gun style of offense, as the Sun-Times reported at the time.<\/p>\n
Still, the fact that Donovan was tasked with looking into Queen\u2019s potential shows how serious the Bulls were about him.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, in that draft, there were probably five guys they wanted me to watch film on, and I had talked to [Willard] about him,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cKevin thought [he had] a really, really high-IQ, all those kinds of things.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the draft actually came, there\u2019s things that happen in that moment. You\u2019ve got five minutes to make that pick. I think [the front office] was looking at Noa as an opportunity long-term \u2014 \u2018This guy fits the way we would like to play.\u2019 I did not get from the front office or even the scouts that [Queen wasn\u2019t] a fit. [But] I think they thought the way we were playing, Noa, maybe from an upside standpoint, another athletic wing, a long defender, [was] maybe something we needed defensively.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bulls (9-8) entered Monday ranked second in the NBA in pace of play; the Pelicans (3-15) were 22nd. Maybe New Orleans was a better landing spot for Queen, but it\u2019s a tough look through the early part of the season.<\/p>\n
Collins\u2019 time is coming<\/b><\/p>\n
Bulls backup center Zach Collins<\/b>, who has yet to play a regular-season game because of an injured left hand, was scheduled to start ramping up activity with full-contact practices later this week. If all goes well, Donovan hopes to have him available in time for a series of home games in early December.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the hope, but he\u2019s got to get back on the court this week and do some more contact,\u201d Donovan said.<\/p>\n
Bumps and bruises<\/b><\/p>\n
Center Nikola Vucevic <\/b>(sore knee), guard\/forwards Kevin Huerter<\/b> (hip\/illness) and Dalen Terry<\/b> (calf) and guard Isaac Okoro<\/b> (back) were all out Monday, but none of their injuries was thought to be long-term. Okoro and Terry didn\u2019t make the trip to New Orleans.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sitting at No. 12 in the 2025 NBA Draft, the Pelicans rookie was not just on the radar for the Bulls, he was in the building for a visit leading up to the selection. They passed and went with Noa Essengue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":122569,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n\n<\/div>\n\n