Business: Sports Illustrated, Zion Williamson's Hype Machine Is No Longer Needed

Few rookies in history have been hyped like Zion Williamson, yet somehow the Pelicans star is already blowing our minds in the preseason.

• This is a player who’s been almost specifically designed to abuse the dimensions of the NBA game.
• He’s too strong, too explosive, and has an unbelievable knack for using the glass, feeling out pockets of space around the basket, and converting. I personally have little doubt that those elements of his game are for real.
• I got chills watching him render Rudy Gobert helpless on multiple occasions last week. It’s really hard not to be excited. Every game, it’s something different that makes you pause for a second. As friend of mine in the industry put it long ago, watching Williamson play basketball is like eating candy.
• Once he gets in the air, you basically can’t knock him off his line, and he has more room than ever to gather his weight, aim himself at the rim, and go to work.
• The beautiful thing about Williamson’s game has always been his maturity. He understands exactly what he’s capable of and rarely strays from that formula, which leads to shots that are almost exclusively team-friendly.
• People ignore that he shot a passable 33.8% on 71 three-point attempts at Duke. He’s comfortable enough catching and shooting when he’s open, it’s just that most of the time, he knows better. If there’s a driving lane, Williamson should be taking it. He’s a very underrated passer. 
• It’s not rocket science that his best role offensively has always been at the five, but until he becomes a more flexible defender, it’s hard to see the Pelicans being able to rely on those types of lineups for long stretches. The faster he can get up to speed, the more realistic the playoffs become for New Orleans.
• New Orleans was already one of the league’s fastest-paced teams under Alvin Gentry, and there’s not much reason to pivot from that based on their personnel. It’s been great to see Williamson already identify his role in the offense and where his points will come from.  
• Williamson is nearly impossible to defend in space and in transition, he’s an expert finisher and a terrific passer. He has the physical presence to draw fouls at an elite rate. He is not an outstanding jump shooter, but his release isn’t broken, and he may be too explosive for defenders to gain much by sagging off.
• Few rookies in the history of the sport have been must-see television from the start. Zion is one of them.

References:

Sports Illustrated, Zion Williamson's Hype Machine Is No Longer Needed, Jeremy Woo, October 14 2019.

 PELICANS at SPURS | Zion Scores 22 PTS on 11 SHOTS | NBA Preseason 2019