New Orleans Pelicans: Is Zion Williamson already a top-ten player?
Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans had one of his best overall games of the season last night against the Philadelphia 76ers and looked like the best player on the floor.
He outplayed MVP candidate Joel Embiid, and looked like a guy who is a lock to make All-NBA this season and for many more to come.
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Considering Zion hasn’t yet played a full season’s worth of games in the NBA it is quite an achievement, especially for a guy who has a new coach, and a very inexperienced cast of teammates around him.
This got me thinking that Zion Williamson, at age 20, may already be a top-ten player in the NBA. Is he there yet? Let’s take a look.
New Orleans Pelicans: Zion Williamson’s ranking
Since the season is still going, I am just going to use unsubstantiated opinion for this list, so feel free to disagree.
In my opinion there are only nine players who can say with any confidence that they are better than Zion Williamson.
That list is LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Kawhi Leonard and the aforementioned Embiid, although after last night he might not even agree.
You might notice this list has a couple of MVPs and that all of them are future Hall of Famers.
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You could also make an argument for James Harden, Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Bradley Beal and Jayson Tatum, though there is not a team in the league that would take any of these guys over Zion.
The point is this: depending on what you value and your point of view, Zion Williamson is anywhere from the 10th-15th best player in the NBA and is the youngest guy on any of these lists.
Some fans of the New Orleans Pelicans have been frustrated that the Pels aren’t better this season but if you can’t get excited about having a 20-year-old who is already a top-15 player, then I don’t know what to tell you.
The Pelicans may not have had the team success they were looking for, but they are very close to being a playoff team and will be in the near future.
The reason is the otherworldly ascension of Zion Williamson, who is somehow exceeding the lofty expectations he had coming into the NBA.
Next. 3 prospects that would fit perfectly with Zion Williamson. dark