Input 55 [Zion Williamson](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4395628/zion-williamson) games, and the algorithm shoots New Orleans way up. Of course, that number would constitute almost exactly half of Williamson’s career games over four seasons. So, yeah.
At some point, the mystery of how Williamson, [Brandon Ingram](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3913176/brandon-ingram) and [CJ McCollum](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/2490149/cj-mccollum) might fit — they’ve played 10 games together — transitions from a source of tingling anticipation to one of frustration.
The unicorn trope lost all meaning long ago, but Williamson is a true one-of-one. The trampoline leaping and stanchion-wobbling thunderbolts draw the hype, but it’s really about Williamson’s speed. He doesn’t have a first step so much as a first burst that covers an implausible distance in a literal blink. Big defenders might absorb bumps from Williamson if they could gird themselves — if they had a sense for when Williamson’s first move might strike, or any hope of sliding with him.
They have neither. Once Williamson gets any angle, you’re toast. He’s at the rim, and you’re falling out of bounds. If he misses, no matter; he’s off the ground again before the ball begins its descent. It’s as if Williamson needs only a single toe to hit the hardwood to blast himself back up.
He is a hunched blur in transition, skilled enough to thrive in any role: posting up, facing up, handling in inverted pick-and-rolls with McCollum or Ingram, screening for either. Playing alongside those co-stars, with their silky midrange games, should amplify Point Zion, Screening Zion and Passing Zion.
[Trey Murphy III](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4397688/trey-murphy-iii) is a vicious dunker with All-Star potential. [Larry Nance Jr](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/2580365/larry-nance-jr). is all flare screens and bounce passes — an aesthete’s player. [Jonas Valanciunas](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/6477/jonas-valanciunas) wants to knock you backward until he hears the fight go out of you and the air escape your chest. [Jose Alvarado](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4277869/jose-alvarado) elevated the backcourt sneak steal to heights unimagined, even hiding out of bounds before skulking from behind.
New Orleans has ditched the giant shaded pelicans in favor of six fleur de lis:
That’s … OK? At some point, we should discuss whether enlarged shadings — skylines along the sidelines, oversized logos inside the arcs — have been a positive. The [Milwaukee Bucks](https://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/mil/milwaukee-bucks) brought it to the NBA with menacing deer:
Ten years later, I think I prefer subtler shadings — with the silhouette of Dirk Nowitzki’s one-legger in Dallas taking the cake. We have another winner coming in the Southeast Division this season.
by kingralek
1 Comment
15th is probably fair right now. That’s a play-in team