New Orleans Pelicans: What accolades will Zion achieve during his rookie year?
By Willie Lutz
Zion Williamson, Rookie of the Year
Perhaps it’s the most obvious of any award the rookie could take home at the end of his first season, but it’s still one of the most important trophies in the game.
It’s an award that’s been claimed by role players like Michael Carter-Williams, but also one LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, and Shaquille O’Neal (among a host of others) have won during their own premiere seasons.
His best friend and former teammate at Duke, R.J. Barrett, is the biggest threat to the crown, that is before we get to see anyone play in the regular season.
Coby White could push for the hardware as well if he pokes his way into the Chicago Bulls’ starting five. De’Andre Hunter for the Atlanta Hawks and Darius Garland for the Cleveland Cavaliers will also find themselves in the running if their teams end up beating expectations.
Zion, with almost no doubt, has the greatest skillset of any rookie in this year’s class. What would end up hurting his case is if he greatly struggles as a shooter.
Lacking much of a jump shot to write home about, there’s a chance his paint-centric game just isn’t appealing enough to voters.
At this rate, there’s simply too much press surrounding Zion that voters will look to another player. He’s destroyed both defenses thrown his way in the preseason, a trend that seems increasingly likely to continue into the season.