New Orleans Pelicans: Point-forward Zion taking control of the offense

In the past few games, the New Orleans Pelicans have played much better as a whole. It looks like this team is starting to come together and the chemistry is beginning to flourish.

There have been some changes in the Pelicans’ offense.

For one, the Pelicans have grown tired of losing, so the effort has improved.

For two, Lonzo Ball has stepped up as his trade rumors were starting to heat up.

And for three, Zion Williamson is much more involved in the Pels’ offense.

Brandon Ingram and Zion have both taken over the offense at times and have been carrying the New Orleans Pelicans early in the season.

They’re both young stars of a similar skill level, so there isn’t necessarily a clear cut #1 option, much like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in Boston.

This can cause confusion at times because the team isn’t sure who should be making the big plays down the stretch. But with both Ingram and Zion, the Pelicans have two unique options depending on the situation.

New Orleans Pelicans: Zion Williamson’s offense is evolving

Everyone knows that Zion can bully pretty much any player in the league and get a bucket inside. But, as Zion transitions into more of a playmaker his game is becoming even more dangerous.

In the past six games, Zion has averaged five assists a game versus earlier on in the season of around a 1.7 APG average. It does help that the rest of the Pelicans have been hitting shots, but there has been a noticeable difference in how much Zion has the ball in his hands in the offense.

He even takes the ball up the length of the court and initiates the entire offense, something he was not doing early on in the season.

Zion has had the ball in his hands and still looks determined to score, but when the defense collapses he has been able to find teammates for open shots.

If Zion can find a happy medium between being an aggressive scorer and a smart playmaker, he will be completely unstoppable. Defenses won’t know what to do with him.

Zion has been extremely efficient, in fact, he just broke a record for the highest field goal percentage of any player through their first 40 games. And more recently, he came second to the one and only Shaquille O’Neal for the fastest player to 1000 points.

What’s amazing about all this is that Zion has only scratched the surface of his potential. There are so many small areas that he can improve upon.

The ceiling for Zion Williamson is the moon.