Zion Williamson is one of the most unique talents to ever enter the NBA. When the New Orleans Pelicans won the lottery, their ticket staff rejoiced like they all individually won the actual lottery. But Zion’s rookie year had less rejoicing and more hoping that he could stay on the court long enough to become a fully realized NBA superstar.
On the daily Locked On Pelicans Podcast, host Jake Madison reveals where Zion Williamson ranked in a recent poll of NBA talent evaluators and why he believes Zion should be higher.
Jake Madison: So HoopsHype.com did an interesting poll with 15 NBA talent evaluators. It’s four general managers, six executives, five scouts to learn which players under 25 they’d build around and why. The number one guy on the list is not surprising, it’s Luka Doncic. But where Zion Williamson is on the list is surprising…
Zion comes in at seven, which is very surprising…
So here's what I think it is. So go look at the list and look at some of the names in front of him. I'm not going to read it off, but Ja Morant’s ahead of him. Ja Morant did win Rookie of the Year, Zion did not. But I think when we looked at this on a per game basis that Zion was the best rookie this season, or he's going to be the best player from this rookie class. I don't think there's any doubt about it. In terms of just like a per minute basis, all of this stuff. What I think did hurt him is the injuries and then very poor bubble play.
I do think Zion should be higher in just a pure talent standpoint. But I think some of the shine has started to come off him a little bit maybe in some degree… being like the shiny new thing in the NBA because of the the lack of minutes, the conditioning questions, and the injuries.
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