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Two former New Mexico State University alumni basketball players are competing for the highest basketball honor, to call themselves an NBA champion.
The race for the NBA Larry O’Brien Championship trophy is showcased by two former Aggie players Pascal Siakam and Trevelin Queen. The only two active players from New Mexico State University in professional basketball, both managed to make the NBA Playoffs in this 2024-2025 season. Siakam plays for the three seeded Eastern Conference Indiana Pacers and Queen plays for the seven seeded Eastern Conference Orlando Magic.
While at his time here at New Mexico State University, Siakam won WAC Newcomer of the Year in 2015, WAC All-Tournament Team in 2016, WAC Player of the Year in 2016, as well as a back-to-back WAC All-Defensive Team player, WAC All-Conference First Team player, and a NABC All-District First Team player. In 2015 and 2016, while representing the Aggies for two years, Siakam averaged 12.8 points a game, 7.7 rebounds a game, and 1.3 assists a game, all while playing 30.8 minutes a game in the 2014-2015 season. In the following year, he averaged 20.2 points a game, 11.6 points a game, and 1.7 assists a game, while playing 34.6 minutes a game in the 2016 season.
The NBA playoffs are something Siakam is familiar with. The Aggie alum has been to the playoffs a perfect 9 times since being drafted back in 2016 to the Toronto Raptors. During his time playing for the Toronto Raptors, the first-round pick was named the Most Improved Player across the entire NBA in 2019, All-NBA Second Team in 2020, All-NBA Third Team in 2022, a two-time All-Star Selection, and worked alongside Kawhi Leonard to help the Toronto Raptors win their first and only NBA Championship in the 2018-2019 season. It was the 2023 season, where the Toronto Raptors then traded Siakam to the Indiana Pacers where he continues to compete. As for this NBA season, Siakam has averaged 20.2 points a game, 6.9 rebounds a game, and 3.4 assists a game, and he became an All-Star for the third time in his NBA career.
The other former NMSU player, Queen has had a different path to the NBA. The Aggie Alum went undrafted in 2020 yet continues to show that he can still play against the absolute best. Starting in the G League to develop the skills for the NBA, Queen was awarded All-NBA G League 1st Team in 2022, All-NBA G League 2nd team in 2024, All Defensive 1st Team in 2022, and was named the Most Valuable Player in the 2021-2022 G League season.
Transitioning to the NBA, Queen has been part of the Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, and now plays for the Orlando Magic. He has averaged 4.9 points a game, 1.7 rebounds a game, and 1.1 assists a game while only playing 31 games during this season.
While playing at the Pan Am Center, Queen played over 50 games representing New Mexico State and won WAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, WAC All-Tournament Team, and became a one-time WAC Player of the week in 2019. WAC All-Conference Second Team, Cayman Islands Classic All-Tournament Team, and NABC All-District Second Team all awarded him in 2020. Queen only played two years at NMSU but he averaged 7.8 points a game, 2.9 rebounds a game, and 1.7 assists a game in 2018. In 2019 he began to take off, averaging 13.2 points a game, 5.2 rebounds a game, and 2.4 assists a game.
To become an NBA champion will be no easy task. Siakam will be competing against the Milwaukee Bucks, who captured the NBA championship in 2021. The Bucks are led by this season’s Most Valuable Player finalist Giannis Antetokounmpo, in a best of seven game series. As of press time, the Indiana Pacers are up on the series with 2-0 on the Bucks.
The Orlando Magic has a chance to knock off the defending NBA Champions, the Boston Celtics, led by Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, All Star Jayson Tatum, and Jrue Holiday. However, as of press time, the Orlando Magic find themselves down 0-2 in the series.
There is a chance that both Siakam and Queen play against each other. If both of their teams make it to the Eastern Conference finals, it would hypothetically put both players just one game away from playing in the prestigious NBA Finals.
