5 reasons to get excited for the debut of Zion Williamson

1. The pick-and-roll potential with Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson is incredible, especially on Ingram’s end.

With Zion coming back into the picture, many media members have pondered the fit of the rookie next to the blossoming star in Brandon Ingram.

While Ingram has proven he’s most successful when he’s allowed to run the offense with the ball in his hands, that notion should help his fit with Zion more than it can hurt the team.

Already over the past few games, we’ve seen Brandon Ingram make a huge leap in his passing ability, especially when he’s able to draw a help defender off of either Jaxson Hayes or Derrick Favors.

In turn, Ingram is averaging 7.2 assists in his last 6 games, up from his season average of 4.4 and much better than his average of 2.9 assists in three years with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Ingram also ranks in the 76th percentile in assist-to-usage ratio (0.70) among his position group per Cleaning the Glass, showing Ingram’s moxie as a playmaker, not just as a scorer.

Not only is the fit next to Ingram good for the duo in the short term, but it should also be good for the longevity of this team as they continue to develop and grow as a unit.

The Pelicans shouldn’t anoint ZIon the savior and just give him the ball; Ingram has been far too good for that to be a smart plan. Instead, the two elite scorers should be able to play off of each other and allow the rookie to create off-ball with his speed.

2. Wild crowds at the Smoothie King Center will only make things better.

With fans already showing up early to watch Zion Williamson go through his pregame routine, there’s already been plenty of buzz around the Smoothie King Center as fans anticipate the debut and impact of their rookie selection.

Drawing crowds akin to the groups that were showing up two hours before games to watch Stephen Curry go through his own pre-game routine, the 19-year-old rookie didn’t even need to play a game to get his home arena buzzing.

Even without Zion on the floor, New Orleans crowds have been electric this season and have done a good job creating moments that have lived good lives on social media.

Anthony Davis was never the culture fit for New Orleans in the way Zion Williamson projects to be, which should come as welcome news for Pelicans fans.

When they won the NBA Draft Lottery, the team went on to sell a franchise record 12,000 sets of season tickets, it had more to do with Zion being on the team than any other factor. Who can blame them?

Per Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, Zion is drawing more web traffic than a lot of the stars in this game. The rookie is going to keep putting tails in the seats if he’s anything like what we’ve come to anticipate.

3. Nicolò Melli should have greater opportunities to space the floor with the return of another big.

Starting to find his footing after spending much of his early career playing European basketball, Nicolò Melli seems likely to be a huge benefactor of Zion Williamson’s return to action.

While Melli is a burly gentleman who stands 6’9″, 239 LBS, the Italian scoring forward has often been asked to carry the load as a rim-covering center as Derrick Favors struggled with early-season injuries.

Melli is averaging 5.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, and shooting 33.3% from three-point range while playing 15.5 minutes per game in 33 appearances but has been much more effective of late.

Over the last five games, Melli is averaging 10.5 points and 3 rebounds while shooting 46.2% from three. Seemingly, he’s catching up to the speed and picking the right time to start developing confidence on the NBA stage.

Adding Zion Williamson back to the picture, the pairing of the two will almost certainly allow for more opportunities for Melli, but generally, the look will benefit the team by creating space for both players.

In the preseason, Williamson’s ability to draw coverage from opposing bigs on the interior often set up wide-open looks from Melli on the perimeter.

When Melli came to the NBA from Italy this summer, it was his potential pairing with Zion that had New Orleans Pelicans media members excited.

Now, the duo will actually get a chance to share the floor, ideally resulting in even more open looks and confidence growth from Melli, while also helping Zion pick up some assists.