March 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Jeremiah Pierce (0) shoots the ball against Los Angeles Lakers center Jackson Hayes (11) in the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Three of the NBA’s most productive rookies will look to improve on their winning ways Thursday night when the New Orleans Pelicans visit the Sacramento Kings.
In a matchup of two of the league’s worst teams, the Pelicans’ Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears and the Kings’ Maxime Raynaud, all three teams will hope to continue their recent form as they compete for NBA All-Rookie honors.
Fears and Raynaud had big games last month in New Orleans when the clubs faced each other head-to-head for the only time. Fears contributed 20 points off the bench in a 120-94 Pelicans blowout, and Raynaud countered with 21 points and 19 rebounds.
Queen, the 13th overall selection in the 2025 NBA draft out of Maryland, had eight points for the Pelicans. However, he holds an overall statistical advantage over Fears and Raynaud, trailing the likes of Cooper Flagg of the Dallas Mavericks, Kon Knueppel of the Charlotte Hornets, VJ Edgecombe of the Philadelphia 76ers and Dylan Harper of the San Antonio Spurs.
All three players will likely reach the 65-game threshold needed to be considered for postseason awards.
Quinn scored 19 points in a win over the Los Angeles Clippers last Sunday and followed up with two points against the Lakers two days later. He ranks first among qualified rookies in rebounds per game (7.2) and eighth in points per game (12.0).
Fears, a guard drafted seventh overall out of Oklahoma, is ahead of Queen in scoring, fifth in scoring with 13.3 per game and second in steals with 1.2 per game.
The 7-foot-1 Raynaud leads 6-9 Queen 13-10 in double-doubles and is just behind in rebounds (7.2) and points (10.7).
While Queen struggled for most of the first four contests of the club’s ongoing six-game road trip, Fears responded well coming off the bench late, averaging 15.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists as New Orleans took a 2-2 lead.
“He’s been really good lately,” Pelicans coach James Borrego told reporters this week. “Two Utah games (to start the trip) and (the Clippers game) — big shots, big plays. I want to see him grow. He’s going in the right direction.”
Raynaud, who was selected in the second round (42nd overall) among Stanford University, has performed the best among the last three players. He has recorded double-doubles in six of his last nine games, averaging 15.8 points and 11.0 rebounds.
He had 22 points and 10 rebounds in Sacramento’s most recent game, a 114-103 home loss to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.
Interestingly, the Frenchman blamed himself for the Kings’ loss against Phoenix.
“I think they had 18 offensive rebounds,” he told the media after the loss. “I don’t remember how many second-chance points we got because of that, but we got quite a few, so I guess it was that game.”
The Kings will take the court with the fewest wins in the NBA (14), just five fewer than the Pelicans. A win on Thursday would give New Orleans its 20th win, while a loss would be Sacramento’s 50th and only the second in the last five seasons.
The two clubs are scheduled to meet again in Sacramento on April 3.
–Field level media
