During the first round of the NBA Draft, the New Orleans Pelicans traded their 23rd pick and an unprotected pick next season to the Atlanta Hawks for the 13th pick, where they quickly added Maryland standout Derik Queen.

It was the first major move of Joe Dumars’ new tenure as head of basketball operations, and it was puzzling. The Pelicans are not expected to be good at all next season, so they gave up a lottery pick next year for Queen, who is expected to be solid, but not elite.

New Orleans also added Jeremiah Fears seventh overall and Micah Peavy 40th overall, and after the draft, signed college standout Hunter Dickinson to a two-way contract.

Dickinson averaged 17.4 points and 9.2 rebounds in five seasons split between Michigan and Kansas, although he was one of the most unpopular players in the country.

In the frontcourt rotation, the Pelicans now have Zion Williamson, Queen, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Yves Missi, Karlo Matkovic, and Dickinson. Williamson is famously unreliable, Missi and Queen are unproven, and Dickinson, like JJ Redick, Grayson Allen, and Christian Laettner, was elite in college and earned plenty of hatred despite not playing for Duke.

However, he is not expected to translate to the NBA very well.

On the court, he is a solid interior scorer who can space the floor a bit, although he is hardly a sniper from deep. He doesn’t mind physicality, which, between Williamson and Queen, gives the Pelicans a distinct identity, and he is a solid rebounder down low.

So far, so good, but the criticisms surrounding his game are very valid. He is often a careless and lackluster defender, checks out of the offense, and is not mobile.

Off the court, fans, particularly Michigan ones, point out that he struggled against better college competition, checks out mentally, and doesn’t seem to be interested in running screens or doing much off the ball.

“I feel like at Michigan, they weren’t as nice,” Dickinson said after transferring from Michigan to Kansas. “They were nice people but not as nice. I feel like Michigan is like a fake Midwest. Kansas is actually like a Midwest town.”

Of course, that only drew the ire from Ann Arbor even more.

Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Between Missi and Queen, who are both younger than Dickinson, who is already 24, New Orleans already has a pretty clear-cut center rotation. Despite his flaws, Dickinson is signed to only a two-way contract, so the Pelicans are not taking a massive risk on him.

While his size, physicality, and post play allowed him to dominate for five NCAA seasons, his slower and unpolished footwork and ball handling will limit him in the NBA, where bigger players can simply do more on both ends.

However, he could be a very, very good G League player. Standout G League bigs like Leonard Miller, Moses Brown, and Paul Reed have found very limited NBA success, but are able to dominate the more limited competition. Dickinson is in the same boat.

If he dominates the G League, the Pelicans will likely continue to invest minutes and resources into him, although the likelihood of it ever panning out into NBA success is low. Granted, as a super senior, he could offer occasional minutes to New Orleans, and without a first-round pick next year, they need all the win-now talent they can get, and Dickinson’s saving grace is his seniority and physicality.