Welcome back to NBA Star Index – a weekly indicator of the players who most control the buzz in the league. Reminder: inclusion in this list is not necessarily a good thing. It simply means that you are attracting the attention of the NBA world. This column will be published every week until the end of the regular season. This week we focused exclusively on the first All-Star Zion Williamson.
It has been well reported that the New Orleans Pelicans are increasingly using Zion Williamson as an offensive initiator – a point guard, striker, however you want to label that job description today. It was a great move for both him and the Pelicans, who, as coach Stan Van Gundy pointed out, have better spacing with one less pitcher (Zion) out of the ball.
It works because Zion is a much better ball handler than you have probably paid attention to while consuming your highlights over the edge. Your first step is predictably explosive, but your change of direction is just as unpleasant. Watch this quick crossover of a pick-and-roll switch that catches Daniel Theis off guard:
Watch Jaylen Brown remaining attached to Brandon Ingram in the shortest corner. This is the dilemma that Zion presents. If you don’t get off the snipers to help you move, it is almost impossible to stop reaching the rim one by one. Here, the same thing happens: Zion is on his left, Aaron Nesmith remains attached to Josh Hart in the corner and is an easy bucket:
Eventually, these aid advocates are forced to abandon their first responsibilities of providing extra support in the Zion units, and this is where it gets really fun. As Zion discovers how and when to kick snipers left open by these auxiliary defenders, he will destroy the defenses like a passer. In the decisive game of New Orleans’ victory over Boston on Sunday, it was Brown leaving Ingram to cut Zion in the elbow:
Whether he is doing pick-and-roll (where the 1.37 points for possession of the ball he is producing as a top scorer or passer are in the league’s 84th percentile, by Synergy), facing up, posting up or just isolating and descending , when Zion moves a step towards the basket, groups of impatient defenders tend to join him and he is finding more and more pitchers open to each game as a result:
Zion’s assistance numbers will not surprise you. He averages 3.2 per game, down from 2.1 last season. During February, that number rose to 4.4 per game. Overall, Williamson assists 16.2 percent of Pelicans’ buckets when he’s on the ground this season, up from 11.9 percent last season, and his assist rate has grown by almost 50 percent since his debut year.
In addition, assists are a two-way street. Teammates need to make the shot that Zion creates. Looking at potential assists (kicks created by Zion that were missed) is a better indicator of the growth he made as a passer, and that number has increased from 3.2 last season to 6.1 this season.
In short, Zion’s passes are creating 8.8 points per game this season, down from 5.0 last season, and his production of passes outside of pick-and-roll is night and day. Last season, Zion ran just 11 pick-and-roll as the starter, and produced just 0.36 points for possession, including passes, which he ranked in the lowest percentile of the entire league. This season, Zion has already started 115 pick-and-roll, and is producing at a rate of 1.12 PPP, including passes that rank in the 89th percentile.
This is a nerdy way of saying that Zion is losing legitimate coins. They are not sophisticated, but they are punctual and effective. Zion is already an All-Star for the first time based on his overwhelming power and ability to score the ball with incredible efficiency, but how he adds that kind of facilitation to his game, putting aid defenders on a damn damn-if-you -do not bind, it will become almost impossible to deal offensively.