Zion Williamson’s long road to recovery is finally complete.
On Thursday, the Pelicans announced that their star forward has been cleared to participate in all basketball activities without restrictions. After missing the entire 2021-22 season, Williamson is expected to be back with the Pelicans at the start of next year.
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In all likelihood, the most significant addition New Orleans will make over the next few months is a player who’s already on the roster. With 14 players under contract going into 2022-23, the team doesn’t have to do much to build upon the young core that helped guide it to a stunning playoff berth this past season. Getting such a dominant offensive weapon back in the mix with a group that features Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum could turn the Pelicans into a top contender in the West.
Things are rarely that simple, though.
Getting Williamson back healthy won’t be enough to get this team over the hump without a few other moves to make sure he’s at his best. With the work Ingram and head coach Willie Green did to establish a new identity for the Pelicans last season, it’ll take time to figure out where Williamson fits.
Here are a few questions Green and the front office will have to answer to make sure the Pelicans reach their full potential with the face of the franchise back in the fold:
Can Williamson and Ingram learn to work together?
During Williamson’s historic 2020-21 season, the “Point Zion” phenomenon took the league by storm, and it helped the Pelicans have one of the more efficient scoring attacks in the league. However, it was clear the team needed to do some work to make sure all the pieces fit.
In particular, the Pelicans didn’t do enough to make sure opponents had to deal with Ingram and Williamson at the same time. The offense often derailed into a “your turn, my turn” style that only worked because both Williamson and Ingram are supremely talented.
Now that Williamson is back and Ingram is coming off arguably his best season as a pro, New Orleans needs to figure out how the two star forwards can find cohesion in half-court sets to make the game easier for each other. It won’t be an easy solution, because they aren’t a traditional guard-forward pairing like Stephen Curry and Draymond Green or Trae Young and John Collins. Rolling out a bunch of pick-and-roll sets with Ingram and Williamson won’t be the solution.
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They will have to improve their chemistry and learn how to feed off of each other within Green’s offense. They both play unselfishly, but they still have to get more effective off the ball. They need a greater willingness to move away from the ball and screen for others. The more they can punish opponents for loading up against whoever has the ball on a given possession, the easier the game will become for both of them.
How good can a Williamson-Jonas Valančiūnas frontcourt be?
Going from Steven Adams to Jonas Valančiūnas turned out to be one of the most underrated upgrades the Pelicans made last summer. It wasn’t because Adams couldn’t be effective anymore, but rather becauseValančiūnas’ skill set fit so well with what the team needed.
With Williamson sidelined, New Orleans had to find another consistent, physical scoring presence around the rim, and Valančiūnas was just that. He was one of eight players to score 800-plus points in the paint last season. Having him as a post-up option was crucial when it came time to slow down the offense and get a good shot in half-court sets. By the end of the year, Green lamented leaning on his big man as much as he did because it probably led to him wearing down during the latter part of the season.
Once Williamson is back, life will be much easier for the Pelicans center. He won’t be getting nearly as much attention around the basket. Teams won’t be able to throw as many bodies at him when he posts up. There may even be a few nights where he gets to throw around smaller matchups because opponents will prefer putting their center on Williamson.
I expect the offensive fit withValančiūnas and Williamson to be really smooth. Williamson knows how to work with centers who may not stretch out to the 3-point line consistently, and he and Valančiūnas will figure out how to pound a few teams into submission with their size and physicality. Williamson’s passing is good enough to make up for whatever spacing concerns may pop up.
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The real issue is what they’ll be doing on the other end — and whether the Pelicans can consistently defend at a high level with Williamson and Valančiūnas on the floor. Can they cover enough ground when teams try to stretch the floor?
Building a top-tier defense with a big man who gets targeted in the pick-and-roll all the time isn’t impossible. But if there’s another weak link on the floor whom opponents can target, that’s where things get dicey. If Williamson and Valančiūnasboth play with consistent effort and toughness on that end, they can make it work. But it’ll take Williamson answering a question many have been wondering about over the past few seasons…
Can Williamson defend at a high level?
This may be the question that determines just how far this team goes next year — and perhaps beyond that.
If Williamson can transform into an above-average defender, the Pelicans have the potential to be one of the most dangerous teams in the West. Even if he’s just average on defense, they might have a chance. His sheer physicality and quickness should allow him to impact the game more than he has defensively in his first two seasons.
If Williamson makes a genuine commitment to being more disruptive on defense, his impact on the game will be even greater, and it’ll force those around him to match his effort. After the work Green did with Ingram to improve his defense last year, getting Williamson to do the same would be a massive win for the Pels coach.
But if Williamson is unable to bring the energy and attention to detail required, it’ll put the team in a tough position. Even with all the firepower New Orleans is expected to have in the starting lineup, it’ll take more than just Herb Jones doing Herb Jones things to get this defense where it needs to be.
Williamson, Ingram and McCollum will have to set the tone with their defensive mindset on a nightly basis. And as the Pelicans try to contend, Williamson being a one-dimensional player won’t be acceptable anymore.
Zion Williamson will no doubt add a spark to the Pelicans’ offense — but they’ll need better shooting to fully take advantage of what he can do in the paint. (Jeffrey Becker / USA Today)
Where are the shooters?
Having elite 3-point shooting doesn’t guarantee a team will be a winner. But finishing in the bottom five every year is an easy way to make sure the path to winning is much more complicated than it needs to be.
This past season, the Pelicans were 28th in 3-pointers attempted and 27th in 3-point percentage. They were 27th and 26th, respectively, in those categories the previous season. The last team to advance to the second round of the playoffs after finishing bottom-five in 3-pointers made was the 2015-16 Miami Heat, and it took them seven games to put away the Kemba Walker-led Charlotte Hornets.
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Even if Williamson is historically dominant in the paint again this season, having 3-point threats on the perimeter will bring the variance this team needs on nights when he doesn’t have it going.
Maybe the path to improving that number is more spot-up looks for Ingram, more minutes for Trey Murphy and a bounceback season from Devonte’ Graham. But it feels as if the Pelicans need to add at least one more knockdown 3-point shooter to balance out the offense.
Can Williamson stay healthy and motivated?
We can talk X’s and O’s or roster construction all day, but nothing matters more than this question. Will Williamson stay off the injury report and be physically ready to compete at his peak level? That’s the difference between a potentially historic season and another disappointing year with failed expectations.
Williamson’s foot seems to be fully healed, which is a tremendous step in the right direction. But can he avoid any other ailments this offseason? Will the Pelicans star put in the work to make sure he’s in the best shape of his career to start next season?
It’s no secret that the pressure on Williamson will be as high as it’s ever been to start next season. People aren’t just expecting him to lead the Pelicans to the next phase in their development; they also want Williamson to prove he can do what it takes to reach superstar status.
Getting to that point isn’t just about the numbers or even the wins. It’s about proving he’s willing to do whatever it takes to help his team win every night. Whether it’s playing defense, crashing the boards or providing emotional leadership, the very best rarely miss an opportunity to lift their respective teams up in any way possible.
People are no longer asking if Williamson can stay healthy long enough to become a superstar. The conversation has shifted to, “Is he willing to do the work required to become a superstar?” Williamson should consider that a slap in the face. Name a superstar in the league who wouldn’t feel insulted if his commitment to the game came into question.
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So Williamson needs to stay healthy and lock himself in the gym all summer to make sure he’s physically and mentally prepared for the grind that’s about to come his way. The way he shows up to start next season will either squash or confirm the doubts that have crept up around him over the past calendar year. It’s time for him to show just how great he wants to be.
(Top photo: Stephen Lew / USA Today)
Will Guillory is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering the New Orleans Pelicans. Before joining The Athletic, he was a writer at The Times-Picayune/NOLA Media Group, and he's been on the Pelicans beat since 2016. He is a New Orleans native. Follow William on Twitter @WillGuillory
