Pelicans pick up 2027-28 options on Jeremiah Fears, Derik Queen and Yves Missi, decline AJ Johnson’s

The Pelicans have exercised their 2027-28 team options on Jeremiah Fears ($8.27 million), Derik Queen ($5.67 million) and Yves Missi ($5.6 million), Michael Scotto reports. They will decline the $5.49 million option on AJ Johnson, who will become an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Fears, the No. 7 pick in the 2025 draft, averaged 14.3 points and 3.4 assists in all 82 games last season, 49 of them starts. He shot 33% from three. He enters the season as the likely sixth man with Dejounte Murray starting at the point.

Queen averaged 11.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists in all but one game as a rookie. New Orleans gave up an unprotected 2026 pick to move up to No. 13 and select him on draft night in 2025. He may also begin the season off the bench.

Missi averaged 5.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 19.7 minutes over 66 games in his second season. He still projects as a rotation player and a potential starter at center.

Johnson, the No. 23 pick in 2024, came over from the Grizzlies last month in a four-player trade. He averaged 3.3 points and 1.1 rebounds in 9.5 minutes across 48 games for Washington and Dallas in 2025-26.