Zion Williamson's Secret That Will Change The Pelicans Forever

This year on YouTube, I've been down a lot more than I've been up on the New Orleans Pelicans. And if you've seen what I had to see this season, there's a chance you might be the same way. I don't ask a lot of my favorite teams, remain competitive and compete. And while that sounds redundant, and you may think that I'm not asking a lot, it can be a lot. The Pelicans are bad way more than they're good. And it sucks. And at times, it feels like the Pelicans will be flat out bad forever. Though I know that's not the case, and that's actually nowhere near the case. To contradict myself a bit, the franchise actually has a winning percentage of .462, which isn't great, but they're not exactly losing all of the time. The thing is, when the Pelicans are good, when do they ever have a chance to win at all? So is the case for a lot of NBA teams. You see these teams stuck in mediocrity, with no true chance to contend. But that doesn't stop them from fighting. And that doesn't stop them from competing. For some teams, it just feels like mediocrity makes them stronger. And the team just wants to be as mediocre as possible. When the Pelicans drafted Anthony Davis, the whole mediocrity thing didn't matter yet, because the Pelicans were just flat out bad. The Pelicans had a process that they had to go through to truly reach the next step, to truly try to become a title contender. They didn't go through it. They tried to skip it. Let's take a look at the Pelicans draft picks, since Anthony Davis was drafted. During the same draft, the Pelicans would go out and select Austin Rivers, with the 10th overall pick. The ironic part is that the Pelicans got this pick from the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pelicans had not long ago traded a frustrated Chris Paul. What was he frustrated at? The ownership. Chris Paul was frustrated by ownership that tried to cut corners, and a GM that didn't exactly know what he was doing. I honestly can't find this article anywhere, but I remember David West telling a story about how him and Chris Paul thought they would retire in New Orleans together. It was absolutely heartbreaking. But hey, we got Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers right, and David West got his reign, and well Chris Paul, he's still working on his. I wasn't a big fan of Austin Rivers in college, but I mean, did you see his high school mixtape? Prolific in high school and very good in college, there was a lot to be excited about with Austin Rivers. We ended up trading Rivers for Quincy Pondexter, who ended up being like our Kobe Bryant at small forward. That's how bad some of the Pelicans teams were. He played a pivotal part in our rushed rebuild, and actually gave us a lot of solid games. With our second round pick in 2012, we would select Darius Miller. In 2013, we took Merlin's Noel, but he would be traded to Philadelphia. We would get back Drew Holiday. Oh yeah, and we lost our next year's pick, so we didn't really select anybody with that one. In 2015, we selected Brandon Dawson in the second round. He would end up being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers. In 2016, with the 6th pick, we drafted Buddy Heald, who actually ended up being really good, but he wasn't good in New Orleans, so we traded him for DeMarcus Cousins. Completely lucky move. Del Dimps seemed like he was going to save his job with this one. DeMarcus would get hurt, and boom, you have a failed rebuild. Along with the lack of draft picks, there were a bunch of bad signings, there were a bunch of overpays, and there were a bunch of questionable hires all over the staff. I'm not sure if it was the medical staff or the Pelicans injury luck, but they really couldn't catch a break the entire time. Anthony Davis had seen enough, and he wanted out. LeBron had been plotting all along, and he got his guy. And the Pelicans, they got their guy too. They got Brandon Ingram, who's been phenomenal this season, having the best season of his young career, and looking like the Pelicans go-to option for the foreseeable future. Last year Ingram was able to showcase his talent when LeBron was out, but some people still doubted him. Ingram has did everything to prove everybody who did doubt him wrong. The Pelicans also got Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart. Josh Hart was a refreshing gift, because he seemed committed to New Orleans from the second that he got there. He let the GM know, he let the VP know, that he wanted to be done being traded. He wanted to make New Orleans his home. And honestly, that was good enough for me. Then again, you have Lonzo Ball, this guy that has all of the talent, but hasn't exactly seen his production be what it should be. I thought New Orleans would be a great landing spot for Lonzo because he'd get a breath of fresh air. He'd get away from some of the hype, he'd get away from some of the media, and most importantly, he would get a chance to play his game. He wouldn't be in the spotlight of LeBron James anymore. He'd have an opportunity to show everybody exactly what he could do. Lonzo has shown a ton of potential and flashes this season. I think it's only a matter of time before he gets the right coach and puts everything together. But I can be honest, Lonzo hasn't been great. Not yet, at least. But what if I told you he would be one of the most important pieces to the entire franchise. Some people look at Lonzo and they get a reminder of the Austin Rivers draft pick, all of the hype, and none of the production. But not me. We fast forward a few drafts, and in 2019, the New Orleans Pelicans select Zion Williamson. Instant franchise changer. One of the most hyped prospects of the last decade. Somebody that had been drawing comparisons to LeBron James. Though NBADraft.net compares him closer to Charles Barkley or Blake Griffin. The site states that Zion's strengths are that he's an incredibly unique prospect from a physical attribute standpoint. He has the strength and explosiveness to finish through contact and easily hang in the air. He impacts the game on both ends of the floor. Footwork and body control are like a guards at 280 pounds. He has an incredibly explosive second jump with the touch and concentration to finish. He has underrated length with a near 6 foot 11 wingspan. Tremendous anticipation which allows him the ability to play a step ahead of opponents. A nightmare to defend in space. Very well coordinated movement for somebody with his size and youth. But apparently this same size has slowed Zion down. The Pelicans don't believe it, but many fans and many former players do. We've seen people like Big Baby Davis, Charles Barkley, and even Derrick Rose say that Zion should look into losing weight. Not saying that he is out of shape, but more so saying that he's just too heavy and that it could cause a health concern for the long term. It's hard to argue this with Zion's season debut put on hold. For all the doubt that I've given the New Orleans Pelicans, I think they might be playing this one right. I think secretly they are making sure that Zion is in the best shape possible. And I think they will be incredibly careful with their franchise cornerstone. Zion could miss the entire year, or he could just miss enough games for the Pelicans to ensure a top pick in the NBA draft. I think the Pelicans knew what they were doing this season coming into the season with Alvin Gentry being the head coach. Alvin Gentry has far more losing seasons than he has winning seasons. Now I'm not saying 100% that the Pelicans wanted to be bad this season, but I'm saying somewhere along the line they may have seen the light. Alvin Gentry pioneered the Pelicans to the worst losing streak in team history. Gentry's system allows the Pelicans to play fast, and it allows the Pelicans to get out and score the basketball a ton. A system like this could potentially raise the trade value of some veterans that are on the team currently. Veterans like Drew Holliday and veterans like JJ Redick. I also believe a player like Derrick Favors will have trade interest when the trade deadline finally does come around. Again, this is assuming the Pelicans know exactly what they're doing. Their 2019 draft class looks to be a really good one. On draft night in 2019, the Pelicans would acquire Didi. Didi looks to be a really good player, he's been playing really well overseas in the NBL. I think they nailed this one pretty solidly, but I think it gets even better. They also drafted Nikhil Alexander Walker. Nikhil was a bucket in college, and while he hasn't exactly got going in the NBA, he showed big time potential in the summer league not only as a ball handler, but as a playmaker, but also a scorer. He hooked up multiple times with Jackson Hayes for big time plays that would lift up the crowd. That brings us to the most important player, Jackson Hayes, who's actually having a really good rookie campaign. Jackson Hayes at the University of Texas was just about as raw as prospects come. He showed elite athleticism, and his game revolved around that. Jackson Hayes would be the 8th overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft. He's an athlete, but he's much more than that. He's a shot blocker with impeccable timing. He's not afraid to go up and contest anybody at the rim. He has the body control of a guard, and some of the best hands that I've ever seen from a big man. His body control reminds me of somebody like Anthony Davis. And while he's not currently a great shooter, he showed potential in This is a player with all of the potential in the world that's already started putting pieces together early on in New Orleans in his rookie campaign. You've probably seen him on a highlight or two. December 15th, he was first in the league for player impact plus minus. His development will go a long way in the Zion Williamson era in New Orleans. And when Zion truly returns, New Orleans could potentially have one of the most exciting teams. In the preseason with Zion healthy, the Pelicans went undefeated, and they looked phenomenal. One of those players who looked phenomenal was Lonzo Ball. Lonzo Ball had the best connection with Zion Williamson out of any Pelican. You see, Lonzo needs players like Zion Williamson, like Jackson Hayes. They're actually the perfect fit for a point guard like Lonzo, who's always looking to find the open player, who's always looking to find the cutter, and is great out in transition. This Pelicans team is going to be a problem. Again, let's assume the Pelicans know what they're doing. They end up with one of the top picks in the 2020 NBA Draft. Anthony Edwards, James Wiseman, LaMelo Ball. You have a chance to pair up Lonzo Ball and LaMelo. This could be a prolific backcourt. The Pelicans trade away Drew Holliday, JJ Redick is no longer there. You have a starting lineup of potentially LaMelo Ball, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, and Jackson Hayes. You can also sign some veterans and you have an excess of draft picks. LaMelo has looked great in the NBL. You can still get Anthony Edwards. You can still get James Wiseman. The chances are that some top prospect is going to fall to the Pelicans at worst. Again, assuming everything goes right and they're picking among the top in the 2020 NBA Draft. LaMelo Ball develops into a superstar, Lonzo Ball fills out a Ricky Rubio role, and you have Lobb City in New Orleans. Better than Lobb City that ever existed in Los Angeles, and better than the Chris Paul days in New Orleans when he was throwing lobs to Tyson Chandler. There, I said it. This develops a home court advantage for New Orleans and they're actually selling out games. Small market no more. Players actually want to come here now. But let's say everything goes wrong. Zion returns too early. He's so good that Alvin Gentry never gets fired. But the Pelicans are never good enough with Zion Williamson to make a legit run because he just covers up for Alvin Gentry's deficiencies. The Pelicans see how good Zion Williamson is already and they rush a rebuild. They trade their picks for players that had start potential or just never panned out or make sense. They keep Drew Holliday and they trade Lonzo for a second. They make a run in 2020 at DeMar DeRozan. They sign DeMar DeRozan to a max after clearing space using draft picks. They also extend Derek Favors who gets a nice contract and doesn't allow Jackson Hayes to develop. They sport a lineup of Derek Favors, Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram who they retained only because of restricted free agency, Drew Holliday, and DeMar DeRozan. The Pelicans are good but not great. They end up with a lot of 5 seeds and they're never good enough to win a championship. Zion eventually leaves. Sounds kind of familiar doesn't it? Oh yeah and by the time the Pelicans are actually good enough to compete, there's another dynasty already running the NBA. Let's say it's the Denver Nuggets. That team is loaded with talent and assets to get whoever they want. Honestly though that scenario wasn't that bad. I honestly didn't mind that team. Doubt the Pelicans could get DeMar DeRozan. But there are a lot of questionable free agents available in 2020 for them to make their mistake on. Let me know what scenarios you guys could put together for the Pelicans, best case and worst case down in the comments below. Ultimately as fans of the Pelicans I think we have a lot to look forward to and I think Zion is actually in a great situation. A lot of teams make the mistake of rebuilding too fast and the Pelicans, whether they know it or not, might be forced to play the long game and it could be the best thing for the franchise. You don't want to skip any steps in a rebuild. Look at the Warriors. When you take your time and you develop that culture and you win, everything goes right. I think Zion could have that same type of polarizing personality. Rookie contracts allow cap flexibility. Stay woke. Be sure to click my latest video it's on the screen right now. I hope you guys enjoyed this one. I will do more like it if you want. I'm D Koop and I'm out.