Why Zion Williamson can be lethal for the Pelicans in the NBA’s bubble

2. A different level of finishing at the rim

Now, this team didn’t do badly at all scoring-wise this season, even when Zion was side-lined. The Pelicans have an offensive rating of 110.6 and plenty of players who have the ability to score and do it efficiently. This team has plenty of shooters such as Jrue Holiday and J.J. Redick, as well as an elite scorer in Brandon Ingram, who is averaging 24.3 points per game. Adding in Zion Williamson to this group of players can take your ability to score to the next level. You’ve instantly god two players who’re going to give you 20+ points a night in Williamson and Ingram, plenty of perimeter shooters and a number of other players who can chip in on any given night.

Zion’s ability to finish at the rim takes this team’s inside scoring to a different dimension. He’s shooting 59.5 percent from inside this season on 14.7 attempts per game. He’s also been able to get to the line effectively, shooting an average of 8.0 free throws in the 19 games he played this season. His free throw shooting (64.5 percent) is obviously not going to be good enough for someone who is going to be getting to the line that much, but it’s a small sample size and you should expect that to rise over the coming seasons. It will have to start to rise now if the Pelicans want to do all they can to make the postseason.

Williamson’s athleticism will be on display in Orlando and gives opposing offenses another worry from a team that includes numerous other offensive talents. Ingram has shown his slashing ability all season long, with Zion’s presence as well then this team is guaranteed to be effective at scoring in the paint.