New Orleans Pelicans: 3 areas where Zion Williamson must improve

The New Orleans Pelicans’ Zion Williamson must improve in three areas.

As you all know, the New Orleans Pelicans were being extremely cautious with their number-one pick returning from injury last season. In a sense, it was like a trial run for Zion Williamson, something to get his feet wet.

While this could have been frustrating for the fanbase, the future is looking bright for Zion and the Pelicans and there is a good chance that this team could make the playoffs next year.

A lot of that will depend on Zion.

In the 2019-20 season, Zion Williamson averaged 22.5 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 2.1 APG.

These are incredible numbers considering he only played 27.8 MPG.

Zion Williamson could easily be considered the biggest freak of nature that this league has ever seen, a 285 lb. powerhouse with the athleticism of a guard.

While Zion is the New Orleans Pelicans’ best player, he still has room for improvement, just like any other player in the league. Here are three things he must get better at.

New Orleans Pelicans: 3 things Zion Williamson needs to improve.

Area of Improvement #1 (Shooting)

The most important aspect that Zion will need to improve going into next season will be his shooting.

Zion took fewer than one 3-pointer a game last season. To put this into perspective, someone like Giannis, who isn’t one of the best shooters, takes nearly five a game. In today’s game, it is imperative to be able to spread the floor and knock down a 3-pointer.

To go along with that, Zion only shot 64 percent from the free-throw line. In grade school, this is an F. This is something that must improve because he will be getting to the free-throw line a lot next season.

Zion got over seven attempts per game and that number is likely to go up next season when he is playing more minutes. If Zion can raise his free-throw percentage to even league average, he’ll add another 4-5 points to his scoring average.

Zion takes almost all of his shots from inside or around the paint and his opponents know this. Even still, he shoots 58 percent from the field.

If Zion adds a jump shot to his game, it will cause defenders to have to step out and respect it. This would improve his ability to get to the rim and finish, which is his biggest strength.

If Zion Williamson develops a consistent jump-shot, his game will be deadly, but even if he could get better at the line, he’d be unstoppable and could average nearly 30 a game next season.

Area of Improvement #2 (Control)

Another aspect that Zion will need to improve is his body control.

By control, I mean how he is able to use and maneuver his body when driving to the goal to score or pass out and his ability to stay in shape.

Usually, when Zion catches the ball in scoring position, he looks to take his man inside and overpower him down low. With his size and athleticism, it is nearly unstoppable. The only thing that holds him back from scoring every time is his body control.

At 6’6 280 lbs, it will be very difficult to manage this, but Zion has to get better at avoiding cheap offensive fouls when he plows over guys at the rim.

Zion also needs to “control” his body off the court.

Something he will need to work on this off-season is getting his body in better endurance shape. Zion Williamson needs to drop at least 10-20 lbs to take his game to the next level.

I imagine that the New Orleans Pelicans’ trainers will be working diligently with him this off-season to get him to a perfect weight that aligns with his style of play.

Once Zion Williamson learns to fully control his body on and off the court, there is not a player in the world that can stop him.

Area of Improvement #3 (Rebounding)

Zion Williamson can be a great rebounder if he wants to.

Zion excels at grabbing rebounds on the offensive end, getting 2.7 per game. This puts him on the same level as a lot of centers in the league.

I know you have all seen Zion jump out the gym to grab a board. While he does this occasionally, he is not the most “willing” rebounder. If Zion was aggressive enough at rebounding, he could easily average 10 boards a night.

So while he is a great offensive rebounder, he mainly needs to improve his rebounding on the defensive side.

Zion has the ball-handling to be able to get it and go, so if he starts rebounding on the defensive end at a higher rate, it would allow him to create more plays for the Pelicans’ offense in transition.

He often leaks out for fast-break dunks but this leaves the Pelicans vulnerable to offensive rebounds, which they gave up at a high rate. It also leads to additional points in the paint, another area where the Pelicans struggled.

Defensive rebounding is a big part of team defense, so Zion must get better at starting his own fast break by grabbing defensive boards.

Zion Williamson got by in season one on natural talent alone, but he needs to add some nuance to his game if he wants to take the New Orleans Pelicans to the next level.