Zion Williamson: Will His New Physique Translate to More Wins for the Pelicans?
Zion Williamson was once hailed as the next LeBron James. He was physically imposing, he had the charisma and the hype, and he had the college experience to have helped him grow–until he got into the league.
Out of the 6 seasons he’s been in the NBA, he has only played 214 out of 492 games, which is not even half. Last season, he only played 30 games. A lot of pundits attribute this to two things–first is his struggles with his physique (he has always been on the stockier side) and second (and most recently) is his off-the-court struggles with women.
Forget being the next LeBron–Zion has never played a full season. In fact, he has never played a playoff game at all. A lot of players in his draft class have had better fortunes, so to speak (Morant, Alexander-Walker, even Jordan Poole). Stat-wise, he produced 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists last season in the 30 games that he played.
The immediate future sort of looks better though–he recently appeared in a press conference looking like he’s been training and dieting really hard. Amidst all the memes, good weight management usually translates to a boost in on-court performance as shown in the cases of Charles Barkley, Heat Shaquille O’Neal, Pandemic Jokic, and “skinny” Luka in the Europe games. The question is, will Zion finally be the star the Pelicans need him to be? Or is this just another pomp and circumstance thingy from him?
For Daily Fantasy Players: MID! Herb Jones, Jordan Poole, and Trey Murphy III are better picks. But let’s see the first few weeks of the season if there are improvements.
For Traditional Fantasy Players: NOT! 24 points and 7 rebounds are not going to cut it as it is, and there is his inconsistency and proneness to injury. He can probably be a good bench pick, but he will not be in any top 5 forwards list. Giannis, KD, Banchero, and LeBron are more likely to be present all season long. Perhaps, Cooper Flagg is even a better pick over Zion.
