New Orleans Pelicans rookie No. 1 pick Zion Williamson was in the midst of a record-breaking initial NBA season when it was suspended back in March due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Williamson and his Pelicans will now return to their season late next month at Walt Disney World in Florida with playoff expectations. According to sources close to both the team and player, Williamson is ready.
New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson in great shape, will “shock some people.”
“Zion has been diligent about taking care of himself,” Pelicans VP of Basketball Operations David Griffin said, via Tim Bontemps and Andrew Lopez of ESPN. “He’s in a good space physically and mentally.”
Another source went as far to conclude that Williamson is “going to shock some people.”
What might be great news for the Pelicans could act as bad news for other Western Conference teams attempting to earn a playoff spot
NBA standings are interesting out west
New Orleans currently sits at 28-36 on the season and as the 10th seed in the conference. Though, it is just 3.5 games out of the final playoff spot.
Under rules the NBA initiated in its return-to-play plan, a play-in-tournament will be conducted if the ninth seed is within four games of the eighth seed. Each team will play eight regular-season games before the playoffs start.
Zion Williamson’s stats tell us a story of a generational talent
After missing the start of the season to a knee injury, Williamson jumped on to the scene in a big way. He’s averaging 23.6 points and 6.8 rebounds on a remarkable 59% shooting from the field.
The former Duke star was on pace to become the most efficient rookie scorer in Association history before the season was suspended. Needless to say, Williamson is going to be a major attraction once the season resumes on July 30.