Big Easy Believer
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New Orleans Pelicans: Zion Williamson has proven he can be a rookie all-star

By Jason Reed

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - OCTOBER 11: Zion Williamson #1 of the New Orleans Pelicans warms up before a preseason game against the Utah Jazz at the Smoothie King Center on October 11, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - OCTOBER 11: Zion Williamson #1 of the New Orleans Pelicans warms up before a preseason game against the Utah Jazz at the Smoothie King Center on October 11, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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The New Orleans Pelicans have the most anticipated rookie since LeBron James in Zion Williamson, who will accomplish a feat that even LeBron didn’t do.

The New Orleans Pelicans‘ offseason has been very fun thus far and right at the center of it has been Zion Williamson. All eyes have been on Zion as he is the most anticipated rookie in the last 15 years and everyone was curious about how he would stack up against NBA players.

This is a 19-year-old kid that is going out there and playing with grown men. He is not just playing, though, he is excelling. The preseason is still very young, but the Zion haters definitely do not like what they are seeing thus far.

Through four preseason games, Zion is averaging 23.2 points (fourth in the league), 6.5 rebounds and is third in the league in field goal percentage (71.1 percent).

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Those are very good numbers and if you have watched Zion then you know it goes beyond the box sheet. He is doing all the things that were advertised of him, from ferocious dunks to even draining a three.

It is still early and sometimes we all have to avoid hopping on the hype train, but in this case, it is just too hard. Zion Williamson has already shown enough that we can consider him as a potential all-star in his rookie season.

Williamson will be the first rookie since Blake Griffin in 2011 (who we actually predicted would have a similar rookie year to Zion) and the 46th in league history. Most of those came in the earlier stages of the league, as there have only been seven rookies to be all-stars since 1990.

This kid has it all. He is going to naturally be the team’s leading scorer because of his presence near the rim and his ability to finish around just about anyone. He is going to be scoring at crazy efficient rates for a rookie and is going to be putting people on highlight tapes as a result.

The most telling game of the preseason thus far was the third game against the Utah Jazz. Zion came up against two-time reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Rudy Gobert, and was still able to score on him. Granted, not all the points were with Gobert in defense, but he scored 26 that night.

Zion did things in that game that multi-year pros cannot do against Gobert. If he can score against him, he can score against anybody.

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The New Orleans Pelicans already have their next all-star in Zion Williamson and that nod is going to come much earlier than expected.

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