The biggest question surrounding Zion Williamson since he was drafted first overall by the New Orleans Pelicans has been whether or not he can stay healthy. The next biggest question has been whether Williamson can expand his offensive game outside the paint. If Williamson’s offseason workout is any indication, the former Duke star may be ready to finally take his game to another level.
At this point it’s anyone’s guess whether Williamson will stay healthy. Last season, he played in 62 games, second most in his career. To Williamson’s credit, he finally seemed to be in great physical shape.
It’s hard to tell looking at offseason workouts how good of shape Williamson is in, but we will find out soon enough in training camp if Williamson’s body is in the right place.
Zion Williamson’s jump shot is a work in progress
We have spent so much time worrying about whether Williamson would actually be able to play, we haven’t focused on his actual game. For the most part, his game hasn’t changed since coming into the league.
Based on the looks of this offseason workout that included Pelicans forward Saddiq Bey, Williamson seems to be spending some time working on his jump shot.
Saddiq Bey and Zion Williamson getting in work together
— PPT (@ProPelsTalk) August 19, 2026
Via- @krischrisp / IG pic.twitter.com/xV1FRIYRSW
NBA players are notorious for being able to hit open jump shots in the offseason with ease, even if they aren’t great jump shooters during the season. This simply could just be a case of Williamson taking a few shots from outside but not really putting in a ton of time into working on his jump shot.
Williamson also could be spending a lot of time working on his jump shot in the offseason, but that may not translate to games. This will be something to keep an eye out for in the preseason and early on in the season.
Williamson is dominating in the paint. It doesn’t matter how many players opposing teams place in the paint, Williamson has an elite ability to score around the basket.
The big critique of Williamson’s offensive game has always been his inability to shoot the three. The Pelicans star has not been able to put those criticisms to rest so far in his career.
Williamson is shooting just 32% from three-point range in his career, while averaging just 0.4 attempts a game.
Let’s dream for a second about what a decent three-point shot could do for Williamson and the Pelicans. He doesn’t need to be Steph Curry. He just needs to be able to hit threes at a decent rate.
The threat of Williamson being able to knock down threes has to be just enough for opposing teams to bring their defenders out of the paint to guard him. Once that happens, the court will open up not only for Williamson, but for the rest of the Pelicans team.
A short offseason workout video doesn’t mean Williamson is ready to put up four to five three pointers a game. But you never know. Maybe this is a tease of what’s to come for Williamson this season.
While it’s not super likely, Pelicans fans should be able to dream of what a healthy Zion Williamson shooting threes would do for the Pelicans franchise.
