New Orleans Pelicans: Breaking down Zion Williamson’s defense

New Orleans Pelicans: Zion Williamson’s role on defense

This season’s role

My reading on Zion Williamson’s defense might seem negative and, in all honesty, it is. He doesn’t do many things correctly on defense right now, but that’s the name of the game for a rookie in the NBA a lot of the time.

My biggest worry is those isolation scenarios where I don’t think the issue right now is necessarily a lack of understanding or the speed of the NBA. Williamson is not great at turning his hips or getting down in a stance, and he seems to simply lack the footspeed to keep up with smaller players. I believe he will eventually get to a point where he’s not a wreck, but I feel uncomfortable saying that he’ll be a plus or average one-on-one defender come 2022 or 2023 unless he makes huge leaps.

As I wrote, I think Williamson flashed some encouraging signs last year in the post. He will be smaller than a lot of bigs but his sturdy frame can absorb contact and make opponents work hard. That is predicated on both Williamson’s effort in the post and the situations his coaching staff puts him in.

I also think that he’ll gradually improve his pick-and-roll defense, as a lot of rookies tend to do. I’d like to believe that he will be coached through the nuances of this by his coach (especially right now when it’s someone like Stan Van Gundy who demands good defense) and teammates. Although I think Williamson finds it hard to backpedal and turn, a lot of pick-and-roll defense boils down to positioning, angles and team-wide communication, which is something that can be taught. There are plenty of examples of NBA players much less athletic than Williamson who have grown to hold their own in pick-and-roll.

I’m less optimistic in the short term about his prospects of chasing 4s or 5s that can shoot. Because he struggles so much one-on-one, it would be asinine to have him on conventional guards or ballhandlers, meaning that there will be games where Williamson has no choice but to guard the Bjelicas, Loves, and Gallinaris of the NBA—particularly after the acquisition of Steven Adams. I predict that he will suffer defensively this year in said games.

Right now, the ideal situation on defense for Williamson is likely to guard a non-shooting 4 in the mold of a Solomon Hill who is likely to stay in the corner and be his respective team’s last offensive option. That way, Williamson has more liberty to roam the floor and come over to help as a last line defender where he can come up with some spectacular blocks.

I also think he would do okay guarding non-shooting 5s even if they are active screensetters, as long as he doesn’t have to switch onto the small and the Pelicans do a much better job communicating on defense this season.

Stan Van Gundy has pledged to improve the Pelicans’ defense. In 11 seasons in the league, New Orleans’ new head coach has had a top-10 defense eight times. If he can achieve that while sustaining the team’s offensive firepower, the Western Conference will need to be on high alert for these Pelicans.