Zion Williamson lives up to the hype but does his team?
With five games under his belt, Zion Williamson is looking like the future of the NBA, but Huw Hopkins looks at what impact he has had on his team-mates, and what this all means for the future of the New Orleans Pelicans
Monday 3 February 2020 07:04, UK
It was quite the debut. In the first three four-minute bursts, Zion Williamson didn't do much, but that fourth quarter against the San Antonio Spurs was something else.
On January 22, the number one draft pick shot four of four from three-point land, had a handful of exciting assists, a number of huge rebounds and scored 17 points to finish with 22 in his first career game.
Welcome to the NBA.
Annoyingly for New Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry, Williamson reached his strict minute limit after a big injury and was pulled from the game, which gave the Spurs the chance to regain the lead and pick up the win.
The Spurs opted to back off Williamson, who built his reputation on being a big dunker before entering the NBA, and leave the 6 ft 6in forward open beyond the arc. But since then, he has broken free and rocked the rim on multiple occasions.
Up close
He is averaging 19 points and seven rebounds in those five games, and hasn't played 30 minutes in a single game yet. But in the past three games - all wins - Williamson's field goal attempts have increased, from 11 in the first game and nine in the second, to now averaging nearly 15 shots per game.
It's his shot selection that has been most impressive. Of the 64 shots he's taken so far, only six have been beyond 9ft, and they've all been three-point attempts. This is partly because of his strength - why take an 18ft jump shot when you can bump people out of the way and still have the speed and agility to spin and dunk?
He is most effective at the rim, as you would expect, and shoots 68 per cent within 5ft.
So far, it is safe to say he has lived up to the hype. Has he exceeded it? Probably not yet, but the Pelicans are still being cautious with him, and even if they make a push up the seeding towards the playoffs, nobody has a deep push in mind for this season.
Working with team-mates
With such a young, new core in New Orleans, all anyone really wants is to see how the pieces play together.
In the five games he's played, Williamson has largely played the power forward position, alongside Derrick Favors as center. In terms of height, he is undersized, but a big body and a quick step means that he should be able to keep up defensively - theoretically - and still be strong enough to cause problems on the block.
He has also logged minutes as the lone big, and these have been effective. Surrounding him with JJ Redick, Jrue Holiday, Josh Hart, E'Twaun Moore or Lonzo Ball means that the line-up can work hard and fly around the court on defense, and they can handle the ball and shoot. There is limited action with this set-up, but it has produced two variations of Williamson at center and the team is plus-9 in both of them.
Of the most heavily used five-man group, Williamson has played alongside Holiday, Favors, Ball and Brandon Ingram. These have been good, registering a plus-7.4 against competition across all five games, and while the team results have been solid (with 3 wins and 2 losses) introducing Williamson has impacted some of his Pelicans team-mates.
Take Ingram, for example. A first-time All-Star this year, Ingram was the lone star for long stretches of this season, and racked up averages of 25 points and 6 rebounds. Since Williamson returned, these have dipped to 19 and 3.
This is no great fall in such a small sample size, but these two players are being tested as the future of the franchise and they will need to learn how to share the court. However, in the team's two-man units since Williamson returned, he and Ingram are posting plus-6.4, which is the worst combination when compared to any variant of Moore, Favors, Jackson, Holiday and Ball.
One team-mate that has suffered greatly since Williamson joined the team is Jaxson Hayes. The center averaged 20 minutes per game in November and December, but has managed just 12 minutes in the past five games.
Part of this is due to the return of Favors from injury, but ensuring chemistry of young, impressionable core is not disrupted too much is a tough challenge for Gentry. We have already seen Hayes vent his frustration in the form of being left off the Rising Stars roster the All-Star Weekend.
The next steps
Prior to the season, the New Orleans Pelicans hoped that the newly-acquired group of young players from the LA Lakers would be unleashed. Brandon Ingram was going to the win the Most Improved Player (he still might), Zion Williamson would raise the Rookie Of The Year trophy. Veterans like JJ Redick, Derrick Favors, E'Twaun Moore and Jrue Holiday would help keep the team on track with a playoff goal in mind.
Williamson's injury has thrown a wrench into those plans slightly.
That's not to say this season can't be a success. The team could make the playoffs, but even if it doesn't, there will still be learnings that the franchise can take into next season. This year can still provide direction.
So, let's enjoy this early success. Williamson will still provide breathtaking highlights, Holiday will still be a fun, underrated player, while Ball's resurgence is still something to keep an eye on, and Ingram can still be an offensive tour de force.
But there are still concerns, and the future of the New Orleans Pelicans might look very different.
