The dynamic of the New Orleans Pelicans franchise changed when they won the NBA Draft Lottery. The Pelicans were about to draft the next big thing in the NBA: Zion Williamson.

There's hasn't been this much hype surrounding a young player since LeBron James came into the league back in 2003. Williamson was a monster for the Pelicans in the preseason, but knee surgery put an early damper on the season.

Patience, though, has paid off for the Pelicans, who announced Wednesday that Williamson will make his regular-season debut on Jan. 22 against the San Antonio Spurs. This means Pelicans games are about to be even more packed and NBA ratings may go up since fans around the world want to see Williamson play.

One Eastern Conference executive says Zion Williamson is already “a max entertainer,” even if he's not a “max player” just yet:

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“He’s not a max player [yet], but he’s a max entertainer,” an Eastern Conference executive told Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports.

“As big as he is on the basketball side, with the season tickets they’ve sold, their marketing, their grassroots marketing, he’s bigger on the business side. He changes the perception of the franchise. Between drafting him and hiring David Griffin, they’ve changed their perception. They’re a national franchise now, businesses will be attracted to them.”

In his lone season at Duke, Williamson put on an absolute show. The forward averaged 22.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting 68.0 percent from the field, 33.8 percent from beyond the arc and 64.0 percent from the free-throw line.

Pelicans fans can't wait to see Williamson play alongside Jrue Holiday, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and the rest of the core in New Orleans.