The New Orleans Pelicans’ rookie has been sensational so far, but the overtime loss to the Mavericks revealed a few things he needs to improve moving forward.
Let’s get something straight right away: the New Orleans Pelicans’ Zion Williamson is a 19-year-old superstar in the making who will eventually be the face of the NBA.
He has been spectacular in his young career, pouring in 24 points a game and grabbing 6.8 boards while leading the New Orleans Pelicans resurgence and doing things like this:
.@ZO2_ pokes it away and @Zionwilliamson finishes with the slam! @Zatarains pic.twitter.com/on73281KLu
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) March 4, 2020
Williamson seems to break a record (or a rim) every night and his scoring and high field goal percentage have put him in the same conversation as Michael Jordan.
It is the height of nit-picking to start talking about what he needs to improve, but this is the world we live in.
As the most hyped rookie since LeBron James, Zion is going to spend his career under a microscope and will need to get used to the type of media scrutiny that is coming.
Yes, he has been amazing, everything the New Orleans Pelicans could hope for and more, but if he wants to be mentioned in the same breath as the greats, there are still some things for the 19-year-old rookie to work on.
Here are three things that Zion can improve to make the leap from hype to MVP.
Develop Some Kind of Jumper
Zion is a powerhouse in the paint, a nearly unstoppable force the likes of which we haven’t seen since a young Shaquille O’Neal. It would be crazy for the New Orleans Pelicans to try to turn him into a soft stretch-four or worry about him developing a 3-point shot.
He’s a dunking machine and should remain so.
As tough a cover as Zion is physically, he’s extremely easy to scheme against.
Everyone in the building knows what Zion wants to do with the ball and defenders are just dropping off and waiting for his inevitable drive to the hoop.
Maxi Kleber did this brilliantly for the Mavericks and was able to block several of Zion’s shots just by standing his ground and waiting for the young phenom to plow into him.
Kleber provided the rest of the league a blueprint for how to guard Williamson. Back off, wait for him to drive, stand your ground and wait for help to come from the weak side, which it did, in the form of Kristaps Porzingis.
Kleber and Porzingis combined for 10 blocks, most of them against Zion.
If Zion can develop even a mediocre mid-range jumper it would prevent teams from sagging off him and clogging up the paint. This would allow his elite quickness and athleticism to go to work and Zion would actually get better looks at the rim.
Some have suggested that Zion doesn’t need a jumper and at this early point in his career they are right.
He may not need it, but if he wants to be an All-Time Great, then developing a jumper will get him there.
Zion does not need to be Stephen Curry, but if he can start hitting 12-15 foot jumpers he’ll be almost impossible to stop.