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Zion Williamson is entering his third NBA season and if the progression shown from his rookie year into his sophomore season continues, we're on for a superstar-type campaign from him. The New Orleans Pelicans forward, who turned 21 years of age on July 6th, has already been an NBA All-Star within his first two seasons and has quickly become one of the most dominant forces in the league.
Williamson put up 22.5 points per game with 58/42/64 shooting splits in a small sample size in his rookie year. A torn meniscus allowed him to play only 24 games as a rookie, but he lived up to the hype in his first few games.
5 Reasons why Zion Williamson's game is on the right path in the NBA
Last year, Zion Williamson exploded offensively, putting up 27 points per game with a 61% field-goal efficiency in 61 regular-season games. The New Orleans Pelicans missed a chance to be in the Play-In tournament as the team did not meet the expectations generated by the potential of its young players.
Williamson's fractured finger did not help the team's late push either as he missed the last six regular-season matches.
Looking at the 2021-22 NBA season, the New Orleans Pelicans, with new coach Willie Green and a more experienced, established young core, might be contenders to enter the 2022 NBA Playoffs. However, it all seems tied up with Zion Williamson's progression, which looks unbelievable.
In this article, we will look at five reasons to be excited about Zion Williamson's game in the 2021-22 NBA season.
#5 Williamson understands his weaknesses on offense
Zion Williamson might be described as one-dimensional on offense, but it really wasn't a problem for his offensive game in the 2020-21 NBA season. There also does not seem to be anything that will hinder him going forward.
In his first season, Williamson made 42.9% of his threes, attempting only 14 in 24 games. In the 2020-21 campaign, Williamson shot 29.4% from the three-point line, but he attempted only 34 threes in 61 games (0.6 per game).
Williamson is not a great three-point shooter, but he understands that and does not force those kind of shots. The 21-year-old also knows his true dominance comes close to the basket, and he will bulldoze his defenders in the paint to make it into those positions. It seemingly works for him as well, as he made 61% of his two-point shots last year and also shot the fourth-most free throws in the entire NBA.
#4 Advanced stats prove Zion Williamson's impact
Zion Williamson's average of points per game from last year (27), certainly looks tremendous in his stats, as does his 61.1% field-goal percentage from the 2020-21 NBA season. However, to prove that those aren't empty stats, the advanced numbers also show that the left-handed forward is a dominant player who seems to be in the right train of progression.
In the 2020-21 NBA season, Williamson was amongst the NBA's elite, as his name often appeared on relevant leaderboards (though it is mostly offense). Zion Williamson ranked in the Top 15 in Effective Shooting Percentage, True Shooting Percentage, Win Shares and Box Plus/Minus.
Moreover, he was in the Top 5 in Player Efficiency Rating and Offensive Win Shares as well.
Also Read: What is Zion’s Net Worth in 2021?
#3 The New Orleans Pelicans understood what is best for their offense
Although Brandon Ingram ended the season with more field-goal attempts per game than Zion Williamson, the team started to understand what Williamson's dominance represented for its offense midway through the 2020-21 NBA season.
Williamson averaged 17 attempts per game, while Ingram ended the season with 18. However, the former ultimately led the team in Usage Rating for the entire season and led them in points per game too.
Zion Williamson's impact on the New Orleans Pelicans' offense was notable last year as the team put up a 113.9 Offensive Rating with him on the court and 107 without him.
#2 Zion Williamson's passing ability is underrated
Zion Williamson averaged 3.7 assists per game last season, which was almost double the amount he put up in his brief rookie season.
In the first 20 games of the 2020-21 NBA regular season, as Brandon Ingram was running the team's offense, Williamson averaged 23 points and two assists per game. As the season went on, Williamson's overall offensive numbers improved, with the lefty putting up 28.5 points and 4.3 assists per game in his next 42 appearances. He had clearly taken over the offense of the team and also created plays for his teammates.
Williamson is not a premium passer, but as he will face double-teams quite often in the paint, his passes will need to consistently find teammates in the sweet spot. As things stand, he seems to be able to carry that out when needed.
#1 Williamson's offense was as good as anyone's in the NBA in the late stretch of last year
Zion Williamson's 27 points per game from the 2020-21 NBA regular season led the New Orleans Pelicans. He also ranked eighth in the entire NBA, ahead of established superstars like Kyrie Irving, Nikola Jokic and Kawhi Leonard.
Over the final 17 games played by Zion Williamson in the 2020-21 NBA season, he averaged 28.6 points per game with 58.5% efficiency from the field (19 attempts per game).
From April 6th, 2021 to May 4th, 2021, Williamson averaged 28.6 points per game, which ranked eighth in the NBA in that span. The numbers put him ahead of Luka Doncic, Paul George, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic.
In that stretch, Stephen Curry led the NBA with 14 games with at least 30 points, and Zion Williamson was second with nine. If he did not suffer a finger fracture that caused him to miss the final six games of the year, Williamson could've definitely improved his numbers over the final stretch. He may have even helped the Pels enter the Play-In places (they went 1-5 and finished two games out of the Play-In spots).
Looking at the upcoming NBA season, we could bet on Zion Williamson continuing with such displays for the New Orleans Pelicans.
Guess the Lakers players!
