Due to their early injuries which led to them abandoning their campaign just weeks into the 2024-25 NBA season and pivoting into a tank, the New Orleans Pelicans have largely been overlooked by the NBA world this year. Let's be real, this franchise is often overlooked even when it's in a competitive position, so it's been practically radio silence from the national media in NOLA this season.
As a result, some of the Pelicans players aren't getting the love they deserve. Trey Murphy III should be leading the way in the Most Improved Player discussions, but he's not even in consideration, despite taking massive strides in his game and better fitting the spirit of the award than any of the current frontrunners.
Zion Williamson has been dominant pretty much anytime he's set foot on the court this year, but the rest of the league and its followers are only starting to take notice now. It's clear when watching him that Zion is putting together one of his best seasons to date, if not the best, despite the Pelicans' abysmal standing. It's great that the rest of the NBA world is starting to pay attention, but there's one aspect of Zion Williamson's game that's only truly appreciated by Pelicans fans.
Zion Williamson is sneakily one of the best passers in the entire NBA
For years, one of the Pelicans' biggest needs was for a pure point guard. Since they parted ways with Jrue Holiday and Lonzo Ball, New Orleans has failed to acquire a true floor general in the Zion era. They tried to shoehorn CJ McCollum into that role, and he did his best to fill that hole for the team, but it became increasingly clearer that it's not his natural position and he's at his most dangerous as an off-guard who can stay in attack mode.
New Orleans tried to address this need last summer by trading for Dejounte Murray. Murray set the table well for the Pelicans while he was healthy, but his injuries and resulting dampened efficiency negatively affected the impact he could have had on the offense.
Despite the Pelicans' lack of a true floor general all of these years, they've still presented themselves as an acceptable offensive team. That's largely thanks to Zion and his underrated playmaking abilities. When he came into the league, the potential he flashed as a passer indicated that it could one day become a strength of his. Over the past few years though, he's gone from budding playmaker to a full-on point forward, and one of the league's best at that.
This season, he's averaging 8.8 assists per 48 minutes, a career-high for him. That mark also has him tied at 16th in the league with Devin Booker among qualified league leaders. It's the third-highest rate in the NBA among non-guards, behind only Nikola Jokic and LeBron James.
He's also averaging 10.6 potential assists per game, compared to 5.2 actual assists. That means he's creating double the amount of scoring opportunities for his teammates this season — they're just only converting half of them.
It's never a bad thing to have multiple ball-handlers capable of creating plays for others, which is why the Pelicans should retain Dejounte Murray or at least replace him with another point guard. That said, Zion's gravity and ability to penetrate the defense on practically every single touch ensures that his teammates will get plenty of good looks and scoring opportunities when he's on the floor. He's significantly improved as a passer in the NBA too, advancing beyond just finding his open shooters to now being able to anticipate plays and create openings for others.
With Brandon Ingram gone, Big Z should only have more control of the offense moving forward. Pretty soon, the entire basketball world will recognize his greatness as a passer and playmaker. For now though, his point forward abilities remain mostly a delightful secret for the Pelicans and their staunchest supporters.