One of the most coveted prospects the NBA has seen in recent years, the attention around Zion Williamson went up another notch when the New Orleans Pelicans unexpectedly won the draft lottery Tuesday night. This means the Pelicans will have the chance to draft Williamson first overall and while some believe this to be a bad situation for the Duke product, those within his circle believe differently.
With the Pelicans winning the lottery, some have suggested Williamson return to Duke for another year to avoid heading to New Orleans. However, according to his stepfather Lee Anderson who recently appeared on ESPN’s Off The Bench, Williamson is excited about joining the Pelicans and hasn’t considered returning to college.
“There has been a lot of speculation but that is not something we have even considered.”
Hear the full interview with @ZionW32’s stepfather Lee Anderson talking about Zion to the @PelicansNBA:
? https://t.co/wdMyP0ryUR
? https://t.co/b8VawiDELg pic.twitter.com/6ieLm1pFTZ— OFF THE BENCH (@OTB_ESPN) May 16, 2019
While Zion Williamson returning to Duke after being this highly touted would’ve been a shocking move, the only reason some even saw that as a viable option was due to the fate of Anthony Davis. Undoubtedly a generational talent himself, Davis hasn’t been able to sustain the success many would think in New Orleans and now seven years into his career, he’s ready to move on without much playoff success under his belt.
A lot of this has to do with an impossibly tough Western Conference, but based on what his stepfather said, Williamson appears eager and ready to step up to the plate and accept the challenge. Williamson has all the makings of a franchise-changing talent himself and will bring his relentlessness and unreal athleticism to a desperate New Orleans franchise.
Though success won’t be easy to come by early on with or without Davis still on the roster, the Pelicans can’t go years without surrounding their star with appropriate auxiliary pieces. We saw this with Davis and their window for success shrank exponentially. Hopefully, under new GM David Griffin, the Pelicans take better advantage of a generational player the second time around as opposed to history repeating itself.
