When you think of a player like Yves Missi, who is at his best finishing plays and rim running on offense, he doesn’t immediately strike you as someone who’d help Zion Williamson thrive. With Z’s offense relying on getting to the rim or into the paint, having his big down low could create congestion. While Missi has always been decent at giving his star forward space to operate, the stuff we’ve seen from him this offseason suggests his fit with Zion is only going to grow even stronger
Missi recently suited up for his home country of Cameroon in FIBA World Cup qualifiers and showed much-improved ball skills, an impressive offensive bag, plus a little outside shooting. If those are things he can carry into next season, the frontcourt pairing of Missi and Zion could be dangerous.
Missi latest development could open up the Pelicans' offense
In those World Cup qualifiers, Missi had two standout games. Against Nigeria, he had 24 points, nine rebounds, two steals, and four blocks, while shooting 9-of-13 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. Against Tunisia, Missi had 19 points and 14 rebounds, shooting 6-of-9 from the field and 1-of-1 from three. Now, while the outside shooting isn’t something fans should expect to be a real piece of his game this upcoming season or something defenses overly respect, everything else was really legit.
To me, the biggest piece here is that when Missi would catch the ball on the perimeter, he had the ability to put it on the deck, make a move, and finish at the rim. He’s always had good athleticism and a quick first step for a big man, but his handle was loose and made it easy for defenders to poke the ball away. Obviously, he didn’t have a tight John Stockton-type handle, but it was much improved from what we saw in his first two seasons and could be a valuable tool for New Orleans next season.
As a center, there are two main ways to punish defenses for giving you space. The obvious one is shooting the three-ball; the other is being able to punish defenses off the dribble. When you can attack off the dribble as a big, opposing defenders have to respect you and aren’t able to just give up all this uncovered space. Adding this to his bag will really help open the floor up more for Zion.
Next season, Missi won’t be forced to just be a screen and roller or someone who sits in the dunker spot in the Pelicans' half-court offense. His improved handle and ability to attack will let New Orleans incorporate more of the five-out concepts that Jamahl Mosley leaned on a lot with the Orlando Magic.
Obviously, the majority of Missi’s impact offensively will still be finishing plays and scoring off of second chances, but he now has more tools in his arsenal. And because of that, he looks like a much better offensive fit alongside Zion Williamson than he originally projected to be.
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