New Orleans Pelicans: Lofty goals for each of the team’s starters in 2021

Zion Williamson should also follow his teammate Brandon Ingram and strive for an All-NBA season with the New Orleans Pelicans in 2021

Zion Williamson- Make an All-NBA team

Is it lazy to give Zion Williamson the same goal as Brandon Ingram? Maybe it is, but I don’t care because this should be Zion’s goal too.

I say this because when the Pelicans selected Zion Williamson with the 1st overall pick in 2019, he was universally considered as a transcendent talent on par with the likes of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Injury robbed Williamson of living up to that hype last season, but it can certainly happen this season.

Just think about it, a healthy Zion Williamson is a two-way star. He’s a physical force who’s not only a dynamic scorer who attacks with power but a player who can protect the rim and provide outstanding defense. There’s no fair comparison for that, and that’s why people have called him the modern Charles Barkley.

The reason I say Williamson should strive for that All-NBA nod though goes beyond his own stardom. The New Orleans Pelicans want to develop into championship contenders, and we’ve seen in this NBA landscape that to do that, you need two All-NBA caliber players on your roster. The Pelicans’ best hope in achieving that is seeing both Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson take that leap.

If that duo can accomplish that rare feat, then the Pelicans organization will know that they have a team worth building around in the future. Given Stan Van Gundy’s history coaching dynamic big-men, this goal should be in the cards for the upcoming season.