New Orleans Pelicans: How Bob Beyer will help Zion Williamson

New assistant coach Bob Beyer will help the New Orleans Pelicans get the most out of Zion Williamson.

When Stan Van Gundy hired Bob Beyer as his first assistant coach for the New Orleans Pelicans, most fans said “who?” but it was a good thing for Zion Williamson.

If you are not familiar with Bob Beyer, he is a longtime assistant coach and what most would simply call a “basketball guy.”

Bob Beyer has been around the league forever and has already done successful stints with Stan Van Gundy in Orlando and Detroit.

He’s worked with Mark Jackson in Golden State, Billy Donovan in OKC and most recently, Luke Walton in Sacramento.

But it’s Bob Beyer’s time in Detroit that is most significant in the development of Zion Williamson, as he can have a similar effect on the Pelicans’ young superstar as he did with Andre Drummond.

New Orleans Pelicans: Bob Beyer can help add nuance and versatility to Zion Williamson’s game.

Stan Van Gundy was handed a team in Detroit without a whole lot of talent. Their best player was Andre Drummond, a rebounder who can’t play a lick of offense.

Van Gundy didn’t have many options, so he basically just ran pick-and-roll with Drummond and Reggie Jackson, and for one season, it was successful.

But the NBA caught up, so Stan Van Gundy had to find more creative ways to use Drummond. Enter Bob Beyer.

Van Gundy credits Beyer with helping to add nuance to Andre Drummond’s game and figuring out ways to use him more creatively in the offense.

This included using him to initiate the offense at the top of the key with dribble handoffs and a bigger variety of pick-and-roll.

They stopped using Drummond on the block, where he was largely ineffective and used him more as a passer, decoy and screener, which helped to open up the Pistons’ offense.

The New Orleans Pelicans ran into some of the same problems last year with Zion Williamson, who was mostly used in the post and not very creatively.

Teams just started to sag on Zion Williamson, forcing him to dribble into bigger defenders and often leading to blocks or offensive fouls.

Bob Beyer can help Zion add some more nuance to his game by working on his passing, dribble handoffs, pick-and-roll and shooting.

Zion is obviously a far more skilled offensive player than Drummond and can be used in more ways. He should be used at times to start the offense outside of the lane, to run motion around him at the top of the key where he can pass to open shooters or take it to the rim.

The Pelicans need to get more creative on the offensive end so they don’t have to rely so heavily on fast breaks to get buckets.

Bob Beyer is a teacher that Stan Van Gundy trusts and he should be able to help expand Zion Williamson’s game and make the offense more dynamic.