New Orleans Pelicans: 3 storylines to follow after All-Star Break

3. Can Zion Williamson steal Rookie of the Year honors from Ja Morant?

Expected to be an exciting race before Zion Williamson was injured just before the start of the season, his impressive return to action has begun to put wind in the sail of his Rookie of the Year battle against Ja Morant.

Playing in just ten games so far, the impact of Williamson for the New Orleans Pelicans has been pretty incredible and people around the league can’t help but notice his momentous arrival.

While the two teams’ playoff race will be fun to watch from an external standpoint, there’s something very exciting about these two being friendly rivals for years to come.

Thrilling during the Rising Stars game for Team USA, linking up for an alley-oop in the squads’ 151-131 victory over Team World, the two now have to play across enemy lines for multiple thrilling races.

Right now, Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies have the inside track on both.

Certainly, it’ll be hard to argue with the span of games played by Morant, especially considering he’s put up really great numbers for a 20-year old rookie.

In 48 games this season, Morant is averaging 17.6 points, 7.1 assists, and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 49.3% from the floor as the leader of the Grizzlies offensive attack.

However, Zion Williamson has played pretty brilliant two-way basketball in ten games for the New Orleans Pelicans. He’s averaging 22.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.2 assists while shooting 57.6% from the floor, but his overall impact on the floor brings the Pelicans a whole different element.

Seemingly already playing a heavy role in the team’s ability to win games, Zion vacuums rebounds with his incredible second jump, a trait that’s also led to some jaw-dropping blocks.

https://twitter.com/NBACanada/status/1228325523807322115

While he’ll have to keep playing at a really high rate to unseat Ja Morant as the Rookie of the Year, both players are incredibly fun to watch and are almost certain to wind up as All-Rookie, First Team recipients.

Once AAU teammates (though Zion admitted he played limited minutes on that team), the players then went back-to-back to top the 2019 NBA Draft as two of the most exciting prospects of the decade.

Zion Williamson and Ja Morant will be starring in respective roles for the New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies in playoff races to come, so a Rookie of the Year battle is a very welcomed opening act.