Zion Makes a Statement in His NBA Debut.

Finally, after missing the first 13 weeks of the NBA season, Zion Williamson made his NBA debut against the San Antonio Spurs. While the hype is real, the questions were too. How good will Williamson be? How much will he get to play in his first game? Will Williamson be the same player he was before his injury? Well, we got answers to all of those questions and much more.

Coming into the game, the New Orleans Pelicans put a minutes restriction on Williamson. He would play the first four minutes if every quarter. Coach, Alvin Gentry, stuck to that for the most part. Williamson started the game and four minutes into the game was taken out. This may not have been a popular decision with fans in the arena, but the Pelicans motto this season might as well be “protect Zion”. Williamson was only scheduled to miss 6 to 8 weeks with his injury. Yet, the cautious Pelicans kept him out for 13 weeks.

The game started out slow for Zion and stayed that way through the first 3 quarters. He got his first NBA points via a clean rebound followed by a put back and he had a good looking assist to Ingram in the first. But he didn’t do anything especially impressive. There were small flashes of play in which he would show his remarkable athleticism but nothing that really got the fans going. Until the fourth quarter.

With 8:53 left in the game Williamson hit a 3. This would spark one of the most incredible fourth quarter performances by a rookie ever. The very next possession Williamson spun around Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan and caught a lob from Lonzo Ball for a quick lay up. This gave him 10 points. Keep in mind, Williamson had 5 points in the first 3 quarters.

In the next possession Williamson stepped up and hit another 3 pointer. Just 28 seconds later Williamson was blocked by Spurs center Jakob Poeltl, but that was not going to stop him. Williamson got his own rebound and quickly laid in the put back for another 2 points, giving him a total of 15 points with 10 in the forth quarter alone.

During the next possession Ball fed Williamson again, who hit a third 3 pointer. Once the Pelicans were in possession of the ball again, Ball sent it over to Williamson who hit another 3, this time with LeMarcus Aldridge guarding him, to give New Orleans the lead. Williamson was fouled on the next possession and made both free throws. He was then taken out of the game having a total of 22 points after he scored 17 straight points in the fourth quarter.

Zion Williamson finished with a line of 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists with 18 minutes played. He shot 8-11 from the field and was a perfect 4-4 from 3 point range. He is the first NBA player to hit 4 or more 3’s without missing in his debut. Even though it started off slow, Zion Williamson’s debut was nothing short of spectacular. Even though he had an incredible debut, Williamson still expressed that he wished his team had pulled out the win. Despite a great individual performance, it did not matter. His remarkable competitiveness drives him and Zion Williamson wants nothing more than to win.

The Top 5 Picks From The 2019 NBA Draft

The 2019 NBA draft has concluded and some very exciting young players have finally achieved their dream of making the NBA. Here is my analysis of the top 5 picks of the draft.

Zion Williamson, the number 1 pick by the New Orleans Pelicans, is the most anticipated prospect since LeBron James. Coming out of Duke after one year. he is extremely athletic and one of the most explosive basketball players in the world already. He shot 82% in transition in college and had the highest player efficiency rating ever. He is big and strong, yet very quick. He can work in the post and drive from the point.There is nothing to suggest that Zion Williamson won’t be a mega star in the NBA. With a good front office, a lot of talent around him, and an entire city behind him, Zion is ready to be a Pelican.

Ja Morant, the number 2 pick by the Memphis Grizzlies, is a point guard from Murray State Univeristy. A year ago it was a question as to wether or not he would even be drafted. He then attended Chris Paul’s camp and had an incredible season and is now going number 2 overall. In Memphis he will have the tall task of replacing Mike Conley, one of the best guards in the league. He led the nation with 10 assists per game and can pass with either hand. He also averaged 24.5 points per game. Ja Morant is an elite passer and an great scorer and will be an excellent addition to a rebuilding Memphis Grizzlies team.

RJ Barrett, the number 3 pick by the New York Knicks, is a shooting guard from Duke who won the Jerry West award for the best shooting guard. He led the ACC in scoring with 860 points scored in his freshman year. He can drive into the paint and score on anyone and is also an excellent rebounder. He’s strong and has good handles making him fantastic in transition. The Knicks have a great prospect and a lot of cap space to sign some big free agents this off season.

Through a series of trades, the Atlanta Hawks ended up with the number 4 pick in the draft and drafted De’Andre Hunter, a forward from Virginia University. He was the ACC defensive player of the year and was instrumental in Virginias national championship win scoring 27 points. He’s an excellent 2-way player and a fantastic defender who shot 44% for three. The Hawks got a very good player and a great three point shooter who Trea Young can dish it out to. De’Andre Hunter will be a fantastic addition to the rising Atlanta Hawks squad.

Darius Garland, the number 5 pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers, is a point guard from Vanderbilt. Despite having only played 5 games last season for Vanderbilt due to a knee injury, he averaged 16 points per game in those games. He was ranked the number 1 point guard coming out of high school and is an excellent shooter. He has a quick shot and can shoot from anywhere. The Cavaliers will have to figure out how to use both Garland and Collin Sexton at the guard spot, but Cleveland got a great guard in Darius Garland.

The New Orleans Pelicans Have Traded Anthony Davis

It finally happened. The New Orleans Pelicans have traded Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers for Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart and 3 first round picks, including the number 4 pick in the 2019 NBA draft. With this trade comes a question: Who won the trade? The answer is both the Lakers and the Pelicans.

In the short run, the Lakers clearly won this trade. They’ve paired LeBron James and Anthony Davis, 2 of the best players in the NBA, together with a solid player in Kyle Kuzma, who still has a lot of potential. The Lakers will almost definitely make the playoffs next season and while I don’t believe the Lakers will win a title next year, it is all but guaranteed that the Lakers will win an NBA championship within the next 4 years.

However, in the long run , the Pelicans won this trade by a long shot. The Pelicans received a bevy of young talent and 3 first round draft picks in this coming NBA draft. Not only does New Orleans have the number 1 pick, which will likely be Zion Williamson, but they also have the number 4 pick in this draft and 2 more first round picks in the future. The Pelicans are about to become a very young and good team.

Bandon Ingram is a good scorer. He’s very skinny but is able to use his length to score often. He finished last season averaging 18.3 points a game on 47.9% shooting. Lonzo Ball is a great passer and if he can either fix his jump shot or become a pass first point guard he could be a good point guard for the Pelicans. While he works on that, the Pelicans still have Jrue Holliday, who has proven himself to be a solid point guard in the league. Josh Hart can also provide valuable minutes off the bench. However, the most interesting part of this trade is the 3 first round picks.

The pelicans will have the number 1 and 4 picks in the 2019 NBA draft. The perfect situation would see Memphis and New York passing on RJ Barrett and the Pelicans taking him at number 4 to reunite the two former Duke team mates. However, New York is likely to take Barrett with the third pick in the draft. Most likely, the Pelicans will take a solid prospect in De’Andre Hunter. Hunter, coming off a national championship with Virginia, shot 43.3% from 3-point range and can guard multiple positions. He’s 6’7 and has the potential to be a very good NBA player.

However, another option for the Pelicans is to pick De’Andre Hunter and then put a package together to get a solid veteran to help Zion Williamson as he enters the league. This package would likely include Hunter, Hart, and Ball and get New Orleans a player from a team in a rebuild like Bradley Beal from the Wizards or Kevin Love from Cleveland.

Anyway you look at it, this was not a bad trade for either side. Both the Lakers and the Pelicans have very bright futures ahead of them. The Lakers have anther star to pair with LeBron as they make a championship run and the Pelicans have a young, talented core and lots of options to play with.