The NBA Was All Fun And Games Until Zion Got Healthy..

The NBA Was All Fun And Games Until Zion Got Healthy..

Lately there’s been a lot of talk about just how good the New Orleans Pelicans are playing but most don’t realize just how good since the start of February the Pelicans have gone 15 and five the third best record in the league but even that doesn’t paint the full picture in this

Stretch nearly a quarter of the NBA season there are only two teams that are both top five in offense and defense the Boston Celtics number one in offense number four in defense and then yes the New Orleans Pelicans the third ranked defense and the number five offense what’s really so interesting about this

Is It’s not that things are just suddenly clicking for this team these have been the results we’ve seen for New Orleans whenever they’ve been healthy we’ve come accustomed to that really just referring to Zion Williamson but that wasn’t the case this year he’s already played 57 games instead it was

Guys like Trey Murphy who didn’t make his season debut until 20 games of the year 11 of those games were also without CJ McCollum Jose Alvarado Naji Marshall Larry n all Miss significant portions of the start of the season for once it was everyone except for Zion but finally

We’re once again seeing what this team is capable of over the last 20 games they’re being led by Zion averaging 24 points shooting 57% from the field just behind him is Brandon Ingram averaging 20 on 49 38 splits McCullum averaging 17 on 4437 splits Trey Murphy 15 on 4639

Splits and Herb Jones 11 11 on 57 52 splits this team is getting a ton of contributions from a lot of different players both from a scoring and a playmaking standpoint their main facilitators for them right now are actually their forwards Ingram averaging 6.3 assists a game and Zion 5.8 but they

Are just two of the 10 players on this team right now averaging at least two assists a night during this time having so much facilitating coming out of those SP spots from players that can play multiple positions has resulted in one of the most seamless rotations in the

Entire league but it isn’t exclusive to just them the versatility the ball handling the playmaking up and down this lineup has led to possibly the best bench unit in the NBA right now those first four Off the Bench Trey Murphy Naji Marshall Larry Nance and Jose Alvarado have played 80 minutes together

Over this 20 game stretch posting a team High net rating of 40.2 a 130.7 offensive rating and a 90.5 defensive rating domination not just the best fourman stack on this team over the last 20 games the best in the entire league oh and second is just Zion in place of Alvarado the college

Tournament is finally here and while it’s already the best part of the basketball calendar in order to make things just a little bit more interesting you already know I’m in the lab cooking up some entries on prize picks the sponsor for today’s video it’s super simple more or less on pretty much

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One of the deepest teams when fully healthy but really we already knew this we’ve already seen him play like a top seed just last season in fact 26 games into the year they were the number one seed in the Western Conference they had a record of 18-8 with no signs of

Slowing down Zion was in the middle of an absolute tear he had a 12 game stretch starting at the end of November where he averaged 31 points eight rebounds and five assists shooting 65% from the field and getting to the line 11 times a game efficiency we have

Rarely ever seen in the NBA but unfortunately as most of you know he would only play one game after the New Year something that seemingly overnight completely changed the narrative surrounding not just him but the Pelicans as a team Zion was getting heavier and heavier was dealing with

Injury after injury injury causing many to question whether or he would ever truly be a reliable presence for them so come the off season after going from the number one seed in December to being bounced out in the play to close the year few if any were talking about how

Bright this team’s future was are them expanding on their success when Zion comes back in fact most of the conversations surrounding the team involve the Pelicans actually moving on from Zion entirely let’s move to reports that the New Orleans Pelicans could consider trading Zion Williamson certainly wondering if the Pelicans are

Going to make for the first time truly Zion Williamson available ahead of next week’s draft I would definitely consider trading Zion and getting the number three pick from Portland the Frank reality of Zion Williamson so far is he doesn’t play he doesn’t play the talent doesn’t matter things in this league

Really change in a blink of an eye and this year is just another example of that Zion’s on Pace to crush his career highend games played and now all the headlines have gone from whether or not he would ever stay healthy to him losing 25 lbs since the start of the season a

Manchild and Zion Williamson who looked stealth like he lost weight he stayed off the burgers and the steaks he ain’t hiding food under his bed or anything like that from the team the brothers focused something that even just visually doesn’t seem like a stretch whatsoever he was not getting up like

This to start the season Marshall loing it up oh my Zion William like a lot of players Zion being in shape is heavily dependent on him staying on the court we see this with guys like Luca and jic who consistently come to the year much heavier than they finish it the key

Difference for a z and why so many were concerned about his ability to keep his weight under control is how much he depends on that athleticism that shows in his splits to start the season versus the middle or end of this season over the course of his entire career last

Year he came out of the gate averaging 22 points over the first 20 games before going on that ridiculous stretch averaging over 30 through his first 20 games in 201 21 he was averaging 23 a game over his next 41 29 a game through his first 12 games as a freshman at Duke

20 points a game over the next 21 25 shooting pretty much 70% from the field now this season even with a massive role as a playmaker and being relied on a lot less as a scorer it seems like another one of those runs is heating up he’s

Averaging 23 a night on the season but he’s gone from 20 points a night in December 21 in January 24 in February and now over the last six games in March is averaging 29 injuries are far less predictable than many of us like to think they are so if the concerns for

Zion in that aspect are just at least not what they’ve been made out to be the Pelicans are in for one exciting run especially Beyond this year CJ mccullum’s got two more years left on his contract and valent Tunis will be a free agent this summer with New Orleans

Being one of the smallest markets in the league and having a luxury tax bill looming it isn’t too likely they’re around for much longer but that really doesn’t change the Outlook very very much they have possibly the best forward rotation in the league right now Zion Ingram Trey Murphy herb Jones Naji

Marshall all of which are under the age of 27 and all under contract except for Naji Marshall for at least next season Zion locked up till 2028 Ingram’s got a year left they signed herb Jones to an extension that keeps him around till 2027 and Trey Murphy he’s only on the

Third year of his rookie contract despite it sometimes feeling like they’re portrayed as this group of vets this is one of the best young groups in the league Trey Murphy is’s a guy coming off knee surgery in the offseason and is averaging 14 points shooting 37% from

Three on nearly eight attempts a game he’s often looked at as just merely this high-end 3 and D Wing but with what he’s doing so early on into his career that’s really just a lazy narrative herb Jones is also only in his third season and has been an all-nba level Defender that

Entire stretch of time and currently is in the middle of a massive jump offensively that really isn’t getting the attention it deserves 11 points a game shooting 51% from the field and 43% from three on pretty respectable volume then there’s some of those wild cards their first rounder last year Dyson

Daniels and the rookie this season who if you’ve been watching the channel over the last year you know I’m a massive believer in Jordan Hawkins one of the best shooting talents to ever come into the league and that’s really not an understatement now right now he doesn’t

Have much of a role but that’s more so just a product of how good this current situation is in New Orleans more than anything wiie Green’s been put in a really tough spot with him to start the year when the team was riddled with injuries he gets thrusted into this

Unexpected massive role where considering the circumstances really impressed he put together a 14 game stretch in November where he was averaging 15 points shooting 40% from three on eight attempts a game but once guys like McCullum Murphy and Alvarado came back his role plummeted so Willie Green had this rookie that was really

Impressing and he likely wanted to give a lot of minutes to but he also probably didn’t want to make any sign ific change to what has literally been the most productive bench in the entire league lately those two things just couldn’t coexist but that will change between his personal development and expected change

Coming to this roster unless he’s involved in that change he’s a huge part of the Pelican’s future which at least on paper looks really exciting a group led by Ingram and Zion not only their top scores but their top facilitators surrounded by two of the most talented

High volume Shooters in the league right now and Jordan Hawkins and Trey Murphy also guys like herb Jones and Nai Marshall who have become respectable floor spacers themselves so here’s their situation Zion on Pace to reach his career high in games played he’s getting into better and better shape playing

Better and better deeper and deeper into the season this team as a whole is legitimately playing like one of the top seeds in the entire league and most of the core is under contract most of which are also not closed or only entering their Prime and then the cherry on top

Their draft Capital they currently own all all their future first rounders but they also have the rights to either the Lakers first in 2024 or 2025 as well as the bucks first in 25 and 27 plenty of assets to make a massive move in the trade market let’s just hope that comes

At the benefit of the roster instead of being due to financial constraints caused by a luxury tax bill but even with that being a threat they are in one of the best positions in the NBA there’s all this hype and excitement surrounding the rise of teams in the west like

Minnesota and OKC rightfully so but New Orleans needs to be in those conversations immediately

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Zion Williamson Is Making The NBA Remember Who He Really Is..