The New Orleans Pelicans made a very controversial move yesterday during the 2025 NBA Draft. So controversial that it made draft expert Bill Simmons appalled, labelling it as one of the five worst trades of the decade. In response, NBA insider Shams Charania and the Pelicans defended the decision by taking shots at Simmons.
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Let’s provide some context for the trade. Before the 13th pick was made by the Atlanta Hawks yesterday, the Pels decided to trade up and gave away the 23rd pick and an unprotected first-round pick from Milwaukee next season. By moving up 10 spots, they were able to select Derik Queen, a center from Maryland who has a lot of potential. The Hawks took hometown kid Asa Newell 23rd as he fell further than experts thought.
Perhaps the most egregious part of the move was giving up an unprotected first next season by the Pels. That pick has the opportunity of being a top 5 selection if New Orleans isn’t good. Which is likely given that they traded away CJ McCollum, Dejounte Murray will be out to start the year, and Zion Williamson constantly battles injury.
The move led Bill Simmons to go on a legendary Draft rant.
“This was when I lost my mind. I think I blacked out. I’m so glad the NBA can still give us these… They send that to Atlanta, who had to be deliriously happy. Like, we only have to move down 10 spots and we get an unprotected [first]? This was one of the five dumbest trades of this decade,” Simmons stated on The Ringer.
Simmons has been known to go on rants like this during and after the Draft. ESPN used to have him hired as an expert who would attend the event and give live analysis. His reactions to picks are some of the most memorable and funniest clips on the internet.
“This was one of the five dumbest trades of this decade.”@BillSimmons was SPEECHLESS after the Pelicans traded away a 2026 unprotected first-round pick to move up 10 spots. pic.twitter.com/GpV3N53eBW
— The Ringer (@ringer) June 26, 2025
This reaction that Simmons gave was no different. He continued to give the Pelicans organization a scathing review.
“I was speechless. I just can’t believe it. And who is it? It’s our guy, Joe Dumars. And now he just traded away their unprotected 2026 pick. They’re in the West. What the f*ck does he think is going to happen next year? Does he think they’re going to be a five seed? What is he doing?” Simmons asked facetiously.
It’s a reasonable question to ask the new GM, Dumars. In a Western Conference that’s uber competitive at the moment, it seems as though he’s operating like the Pels are going to be a playoff contender next season. But Dumars might learn in the middle of next year that trading away the unprotected first was a mistake. Some might call it risky, others reckless.
However, the man who reported the trade, Shams Charania, doesn’t think that Simmons is being fair. He believes we could look back on this in the future and not remember what the analyst said if Queen pans out.
“How can you judge that? What if he ends up being a Hall of Famer? What if he ends up being a perennial All-Star? Then no one is going to be talking about this in 3 years,” Shams said on The Pat McAfee Show.
In response to the clip that was posted on Twitter, the Pelicans’ page responded to Shams while taking a jab at Simmons.
“This rational take won’t get you a Ringer pod, Shams,” the Pelicans wrote.
This rational take won’t get you a Ringer pod, Shams https://t.co/G4PBfbeLTl
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) June 26, 2025
So, the team has jokes too! The Pels’ social media account manager saw the clip and jumped on the opportunity to hit Simmons with a classic “boom-sauce.” It was quite a funny response. The only problem is that Simmons can hold a grudge.
“Bookmarking this,” Simmons quote-tweeted.
Bookmarking this https://t.co/SxWkllKBRD
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) June 26, 2025
All in all, it was a high school-like back-and-forth on Twitter. Both Shams and Simmons have the opportunity to be right here. Queen could end up turning into a perennial all-star, but the team could also stay bad, which would mean the draft pick would become very valuable to Atlanta. But there’s also a scenario where Queen flops and the Pels regret trading away the unprotected first.
There’s no way around it: this is a gamble that Dumars is immediately taking as a GM. It could end up being a homerun or a massive whiff. Only time will tell.
