New Orleans Pelicans: Three bold predictions for Zion Williamson
By Jason Reed
2. Zion Williamson averages 23 points per game
It is not common for a rookie to average 20 or more points per game. Most rookie experience a massive learning curve in their first season, which always impacts there scoring and produces a big drop off from the college level.
With Zion averaging 22.6 points per game at Duke last season, the reasonable expectation, at least based on past rookie performances, is that Williamson will drop somewhere around 15 points per game, which is still great for a rookie.
However, as we already mentioned, Zion is a freak athlete and is not your ordinary rookie. His scoring is not going to take a dip, it is going to remain constant and even improve slightly.
Luka Doncic and Donovan Mitchell have both averaged 20 more points in their rookie seasons over the last two years with the last rookie to finish in the top-25 in rookie scoring being Blake Griffin, who averaged 22.5 points per game in his rookie year.
Williamson is a very similar player to Griffin, at least earlier in his career. He is a ferocious finisher that can bully his way through contact and is going to be around the rim all game long.
With a new excellent distributor in Lonzo Ball alongside outside scorers in J.J. Redick, Jrue Holiday and Brandon Ingram, Williamson is going to have plenty of space in the lane to barrel down towards a thundering finish.
He would become just the 21st rookie in the history of the NBA to average 23 or more points and would be the first to do so since Allen Iverson in the 1996 season.