These are three questions that the New Orleans Pelicans need answered by forward Zion Williamson this season.
The New Orleans Pelicans kick off training camp at the beginning of next week with players reporting and hope for another chance of turning things around. To do that, they're going to need Zion Williamson to have an even better year than last season, which was his best in a while.
Williamson is someone who has always been brought up in trade rumors, but it has never felt like the team would really move him with time left on his contract. That time is running out, and the overall results haven't come. With just one more year under contract after this season, a decision will need to be made soon.
Here are some questions that the team has for him, that he will need to answer this season:
Can he stay healthy, again?
Williamson was rightly celebrated for making a huge turn in his health and approach to health last year. He seemed more open to playing while slightly dinged up, and it led to a new career-high of 35 straight games. That's not enough to dispel the worries. It was the third time in his career that he played at least 60 games. He has never done it in back-to-back seasons.
Some of it is just luck, but Williamson has left no room for them to even consider that. If he has another banged-up year, it could be the end of his time on the Pelicans.
Where is the mid-range shot?
Whenever Williamson attempts a mid-range shot, everyone is happy. Make or miss. If teams were to have to seriously consider him pulling up before driving to the rim, it could take him up to the next level. It's been the same story for years, with fans begging for him to not abandon it when the misses come, but it has never been present enough. Perhaps this is something the new coaching staff could help unlock.
New Orleans doesn't have enough three-point shooting to have natural spacing. This is something that could certainly help out.
Is there a future on the court with Derik Queen?
Along with that spacing issue, it's also a long-term worry with the combination of Williamson and Queen. Joe Dumars compared the two to when people thought that the Boston Celtics wouldn't be able to play Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown together. The Pelicans' pair played 674 minutes together last year with a -12.3 NET rating differential, with both the offense and defense falling off a cliff. Given that Queen is the younger player that this front office traded up for, they'll likely choose him if it comes down to a choice.
