Tag: zion williamson

Should the Pelicans play Zion Williamson at center?

The Pelicans have a fascinating core of young talent, based primarily around forwards Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson.

But, should Williamson remain a power forward? Or would moving up one spot and playing undersized at center be the move to make?

Here’s the New Orleans Times-Picayune exploring it:

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo’s versatility on both ends of the floor is a major reason why Miami is two wins away from making the Finals. Adebayo playing “up” a position when it matters most could also be a clue for how the Pelicans deploy their own athletic, talented big man in the future.

As a rookie, Zion Williamson operated almost exclusively at power forward. He played 92% of his minutes there compared to 8% of his minutes at center, according to Basketball Reference. As he continues to develop, lineups that feature him at center could be the Pelicans’ trump card in important moments.

Offensively, Williamson is already equipped to play the 5. In his first season, the 20-year-old proved he was one of the game’s most difficult players to slow down inside. Williamson averaged 16.8 points in the paint, the second-most in the league behind MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. His combination of speed, strength and touch around the rim allowed him to shoot 62.1% from the field inside of 5 feet.

Williamson averaged 22.5 points per game on 58.3% shooting — extremely efficient scoring numbers — even though he played most of his minutes next to Derrick Favors, a traditional center who posed no threat as an outside shooter. The Pelicans could immediately become a more dynamic offensive team by playing Williamson at center and surrounding him with four players who can make shots or attack off the dribble.

The Pelicans were a mess in the NBA restart at the Disney bubble, but for now it seems safe to write that off and focus on what should be a bright future. They do still have a lot of development to do if they want to be in the mix for next season’s playoffs. But the potential is there.

2019-20 NBA All-Rookie teams announced

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, the 2019-20 NBA Rookie of the Year, has been unanimously selected to the 2019-20 NBA All-Rookie First Team. As the lone unanimous selection, Morant received NBA All-Rookie First Team votes on all 100 ballots from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

Joining Morant (200 points) on the 2019-20 NBA All-Rookie First Team are Miami Heat guard Kendrick Nunn (197 points; 98 First Team votes), Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke (189 points; 92 First Team votes), New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (176 points; 87 First Team votes) and Golden State Warriors forward Eric Paschall (116 points; 28 First Team votes).

With the selection of Morant and Clarke, the Grizzlies have multiple players on the NBA All-Rookie First Team for the first time since the 2001-02 season (Pau Gasol and Shane Battier). Nunn, who played in the NBA G League last season, is the first Heat player named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team since the 2008-09 season (Michael Beasley). Williamson and Paschall complete the NBA All-Rookie First Team as the first and 41st overall picks in NBA Draft 2019, respectively.

The 2019-20 NBA All-Rookie Second Team consists of Heat guard Tyler Herro (115 points), Toronto Raptors guard Terence Davis II (96), Chicago Bulls guard Coby White (90), Charlotte Hornets forward P.J. Washington Jr. (88) and Washington Wizards forward Rui Hachimura (74).

The media panel selected five players for the NBA All-Rookie First Team and five players for the NBA All-Rookie Second Team at any position. Players received two points for each First Team vote and one point for each Second Team vote.

The voting was conducted based on regular-season games played through March 11. The seeding games, which were played July 30 – Aug. 14 as part of the 2019-20 season restart, did not count toward voting for the NBA All-Rookie Team or the league’s other traditional end-of-season awards.

No surprise, Grizzlies guard Ja Morant named NBA Rookie of Year

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant has been named the 2019-20 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year.

Morant earned 99 first-place votes (498 points) from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters. The Miami Heat’s Kendrick Nunn finished second with 204 points, and the New Orleans Pelicans’ Zion Williamson was third with 140 points. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

The No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Morant led all qualified rookies in scoring average (17.8 points), assists (7.3, 10th in the NBA) and double-doubles (15) and recorded the only two triple-doubles by a rookie this season. He joined Oscar Robertson (1960-61), Magic Johnson (1979-80), Isiah Thomas (1981-82), Damon Stoudamire (1995-96), Allen Iverson (1996-97) and Trae Young (2018-19) as one of seven rookies in NBA history to average at least 17.0 points per game and 7.0 assists per game.

Morant increased his averages to 19.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and a league-best 9.9 assists during the NBA’s eight-game seeding schedule at ESPN Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World in Orlando. He finished the season by registering a game-high 35 points and eight assists in the Grizzlies’ play-in game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Aug. 15.

The 21-year-old Morant won three consecutive NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month Awards to open the season and became the second player in franchise history to be named NBA Rookie of the Year (Pau Gasol in 2001-02). He set franchise rookie records this season for assists per game, total assists (488) and assists in a single game (14, twice), helping the Grizzlies set single-season club records for assists (26.9, 2nd in the NBA) and number of 30-assist games (20).

As a rookie, Morant emerged as one of the NBA’s top scorers in fourth quarters, totaling 433 points in final periods, which ranked seventh in the league behind James Harden (511), Trae Young (496), LeBron James (493), Damian Lillard (459), Giannis Antetokounmpo (448) and Donovan Mitchell (438). Morant averaged 7.0 points in fourth quarters, joining Allen Iverson (7.0 in 1996-97) as the only rookies to average at least 7.0 fourth-quarter points since the league began keeping quarterly statistics at the start of the 1996-97 season.

The South Carolina native was selected by NBA assistant coaches to participate in the NBA Rising Stars as part of NBA All-Star Weekend 2020 and helped lead the U.S. Team to a 151-131 victory over the World Team on Feb. 14 at the United Center in Chicago.

Morant, who played two years collegiately at Murray State University, received the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy, named in honor of one of the NBA’s founders, during tonight’s TNT broadcast. Gottlieb coached the Philadelphia Warriors to the NBA’s first championship in 1946-47.

Pelicans forward Zion Williamson playing limited minutes at beginning of NBA restart

Zion Williamson played limited minutes Thursday. Everyone would have loved to see him out there longer, except Pelicans brass, who are focused on keeping the big guy healthy and letting him build up momentum during the NBA restart. Here’s the New Orleans Times-Picayune reporting:

It was hard not to notice the similarities between Zion Williamson’s professional debut and his performance Thursday in the first game of the NBA’s restart in Kissimmee, Florida.

In each game, he played four short stints at the start of each quarter. Even though his minutes were limited, he put up impressive scoring totals. On Jan. 22, he had 22 points in 18 minutes. On Thursday, he scored 13 points in 15 minutes…

On Friday, Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin cleared the air on why Williamson was used so sparingly in New Orleans’ 106-104 loss to the Utah Jazz.

“I appreciate the fact that everyone wants him to play 40 minutes every night,” Griffin said. “I can promise you he’s not going to. No mistakes were made (Thursday) with how this was handled other than by me coming forward and expressing this in the clearest way possible. This isn’t complicated. He will not play significant minutes in the next game, and he may not in the following game. This is all about the ramp-up time. He didn’t get the benefit of the things that his teammates got for those 13 days. This is going to take some time.”

No timetable for Zion Williamson return to Pelicans yet

New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson, who departed the NBA campus in Orlando last week to attend to an urgent family matter, has been getting tested daily for COVID-19 while away from the team and continues to produce negative results (reminder: this a good thing. You want “negative” results when being health-tested for a bad thing.)

While there is no current timetable for his return to campus, he fully intends to rejoin the team.

Per NBA protocol, his quarantine period will be determined upon his return.

NBA scrimmages between different teams began today around the league.

Actual games that count in the standings begin next Thursday, July 30.

Zion Williamson leaves NBA Disney restart campus to attend family matter

Pelicans rookie forward Zion Williamson departed Orlando this morning to attend to an urgent family medical matter. He intends to rejoin the team in Orlando for the NBA restart at a later date.

“We fully support Zion’s decision to leave the NBA campus to be with his family,” said Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin. “Out of respect for the Williamson family, we will have no further comment at this time.”

On the great NBA rookie season of Ja Morant

Here’s the Memphis Commercial Appeal on Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, who was doing big things in the 2019-20 season before action was paused due to the world’s coronavirus spread:

Zion Williamson was averaging 26.4 points on 59.8% shooting in his last 11 games. The Pelicans forward looked every bit like the No. 1 overall pick with his highlights and dynamic play. But there’s nothing he can do to supplant Morant.

Morant’s 27-point, 14-assist performance to beat the Lakers on Feb. 29 was enough evidence to show why he’s made the Grizzlies a playoff contender. He was still leading all qualified rookies in points, assists and double-doubles, so the question isn’t his resume; it’s how he would’ve added to it to finish the year.

Could he break the Grizzlies’ rookie record with 15 assists in a game? Who else would he have dunked on to send Memphis and NBA fans into a frenzy? That’s what’s being missed now.

We look forward to seeing Morant’s magic on the court when play eventually resumes.

Chemistry developed quickly between Lonzo Ball and Zion Williamson

Pelicans star rookie Zion Williamson’s career debut was delayed due to injury, but once he got started, buckets came quickly. So did rebounds. And dunks. Especially alley-oops, many coming from passes thrown by point guard Lonzo Ball. The two players developed quick chemistry and are fun to watch play together. Here’s the New Orleans Times-Picayune on it:

Ball and Williamson are a threat to connect at any time. It doesn’t matter how early it is in the shot clock or how far away they are from each other. During the Pelicans’ 120-107 win over the Timberwolves on March 8, their final game before play paused indefinitely, Ball found Williamson for a three-quarters court and a half-court alley-oop in a span of a little more than one minute.

In the 19 games Ball and Williamson have played together, these home run plays have become routine. Ball has already found Williamson for a basket 12 times from behind half court. They are like a backyard football duo who’ve made an agreement to go long whenever possible.

“It’s crazy,” Williamson said after a Feb. 28 win over Cleveland. “Right before the game, I looked at Lonzo and said, ‘I’m just letting you know I’m running. If you throw it, I’m going to catch it.’ He took that literally. He started bombing them.”

Chemistry between Lonzo and Zion will be a fun thing to watch when NBA action eventually resumes.