Pelicans: Is Zion Williamson the frontrunner for next season’s MVP Award?
The New Orleans Pelicans have a losing record and are in 11th place in the Western Conference, which are the only things keeping Zion Williamson from being in the MVP discussion.
Zion has been absolutely brilliant all season but especially since taking over the point forward role. Since then, the Pelicans have had the second-best offense in the league behind only the Brooklyn Nets, one of the frontrunners for this year’s title.
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Zion is now averaging 26.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting 62 percent overall, numbers that should certainly have him in the top-ten of MVP voting this season.
He’s been even better of late, averaging 32.9 points, eight rebounds and five assists over his last ten and looking virtually unstoppable in the process.
Zion Williamson is not even a finished product, so we are just getting a glimpse of his potential at age 20, which could lead him to an MVP award sooner rather than later.
New Orleans Pelicans: Bet on Zion Williamson for next season’s MVP
If you want to make a smart bet, find a bookie giving odds on next season’s MVP and put the house on Zion Williamson.
There are two reasons for this. First, the numbers we’ve see from him for the second half of the season are historic. No one has done what he is doing at age 20 and if he puts up those types of numbers over a whole season, we’re looking at the league’s best player, it’s that simple.
The second reason is that the Pelicans are going to make a leap as as team. Fans came into this season with unrealistic expectations and forgot that this is a young team with a new coach that is really in the nascent stages of its rebuild.
With another offseason of development for their young guys and an injection of talent for the bench, the Pels could easily jump into the middle of the pack or higher in the West, in which case, Zion Williamson is going to get some MVP chatter.
If the New Orleans Pelicans make the playoffs next season and Zion Williamson is averaging 30/8/5 with 60 percent shooting, then he is going to be one of the frontrunners for MVP.
He’s not quite there yet, but Zion Williamson is going to be the best player in the NBA and it could happen a lot sooner than even the most optimistic fan could have expected.
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