5 reasons to get excited for the debut of Zion Williamson

4. The New Orleans Pelicans can recreate the “death” lineup

Famed from the Golden State Warriors dynasty, the Pelicans are going to be able to torture teams with their speed and shot-making ability once Zion is back in the fold.

Simply, when the Pelicans go to their “death” lineup upon the return of Williamson, few teams will be excited to compete with the group

Going to sets with Zion at the center position seems like a guarantee for Alvin Gentry’s rotations at this point, allowing the grouping of Lonzo Ball, Jrue Holiday, J.J. Redick, and Brandon Ingram to space the hell out of the floor and create with their turbo-charged big.

Even with Josh Hart, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, or E’Twaun Moore subbed into this set, the Pelicans are going to be incredibly deadly to stop, as their small-ball sets seem likely to throw a league-average defense completely out of whack.

Alvin Gentry loves to play with pace and greatly values the three-point shot, both factors that play heavily into the concept of small-ball lineups.

The way Zion Williamson owned the preseason, cooking elite bigs like Rudy Gobert and LaMarcus Aldridge to average 23.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, and shooting 71.4% during the four-game stretch, it looks like this guy is going to be able to hang with opposing bigs, no matter the level.

Seemingly, this look could really be dangerous for the Pelicans if they get a chance to go to work in the playoffs, as a team like the Lakers are a lot bigger and might struggle to contain the speed of New Orleans in those sets.

5. All the Zion Williamson dunks, every last one of them

Let me start off by saying how lucky we’ve been, as fans, to get to watch Jaxson Hayes destroy rims for the past couple of months. He’s been a rookie delight and has made more posters than I can fathom in a rookie campaign… but there’s a new dunker in town.

Entering the league with the potential to be one of the all-time great dunkers, Zion is certain to thrill crowds who are simply ready to watch some of his monster slam-jams in person in just under 48 hours.

Even as he’s been recovering from his right knee scope, the Pelicans have made sure to kept social media full of at-the-rim brilliance from the rookie.

In preseason and training camp action, the Lonzo Ball-Zion Williamson alley-oop connection was drawing excitement around the fanbase and around the league.

Recreating that tandem as Ball continues to grow more confident and comfortable is certain to help both players make a statement for opposing defenses.

In the preseason, we were given quite the sample platter of just how impactful a Zion dunk can be, something his Duke teammates learned well during his lone season as a Blue Devil.

With dunks like that, Zion isn’t just going to get the crowd and bench mob standing up, he can swing games with impactful looks, as he can create incredible transition looks thanks to his defensive prowess.

Fans are ready to know how the dunks actually pan out in regulation, as fans have to be at this point as well; they’ll get to see just how sweet those looks can be on Wednesday evening.