Stark Zion trade reality ... and moments that exposed NBA superstar

One of the NBA’s most talented players has been thrust back into the spotlight after multiple underwhelming displays for his team.

Zion Williamson is under the microscope.

Earlier last month after the Pelicans slumped to their fifth-straight loss, Zion Williamson made a worrying admission that may have had alarm bells ringing in the New Orleans front office.

“It’s tough right now but I’m taking a little back seat right now and I’m trusting the process,” he said, speaking after a 136-124 defeat to the Dallas Mavericks.

“I’m trying my best to buy in right now.”

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Williamson may not have realised it at the time but as the face of the franchise, it was hardly a ringing endorsement New Orleans would have been hoping for in the midst of a testing period for the team.

So, an hour-long team meeting was called the next day.

The result? A statement 131-110 victory over Dallas that sparked a sudden resurgence for the Pelicans, who went on to win five of their next six games.

More important than anything else was the fact Williamson was starting to look like himself again, getting to the rim more often and finishing at a higher rate.

Williamson played in all five of those wins, averaging 25.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists while shooting 60.3 per cent from the field.

Things were on the way up. The team’s two biggest outside shooting threats — Trey Murphy III and CJ McCollum — would soon be returning.

It was also easy to forget that Williamson himself had been sidelined from early January to the end of last season with a hamstring injury and was in the process of getting back into a rhythm of his own.

Both he and the team as a whole looked to finally be finding that rhythm.

But now two underwhelming performances from Williamson in the NBA’s in-season tournament have turned the spotlight back on one of the league’s most talented and yet frustrating players.

Zion Williamson is under the spotlight again. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Frustrating because it is a conversation that has been had several times before over the past few seasons.

That for all his talent with a unique frame and limitless potential, there is in fact a limit on that potential if Williamson does not improve his conditioning and attitude.

Stephen A. Smith made his point by comparing Williamson’s performance in the blowout loss to the Lakers to that of a 39-year-old LeBron James, who was making all the right plays and hustling on both ends of the floor in what is his 21st season.

“Zion Williamson went to the free throw line the other day,” Smith said.

“While LeBron James had dropped 30 in three quarters and completely dominated and looked in peak physical condition, looked like a stud and a superstar.

“Zion Williamson, who is more than 15 years younger but 40 pounds heavier, went to the free throw line... ladies and gentlemen, I saw a belly.”

Williamson is saying all the right things, declaring after the loss to the Lakers that he needs to be “more aggressive” and that he expects “more” of himself.

But privately it seems like a different story, with multiple team sources telling Christian Clark of The Times-Picayune that he “doesn’t listen” to constant pleas to improve his diet and conditioning.

It comes after Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin confidently told reporters this pre-season that “this was the first summer where we’ve seen Zion take his profession seriously like that and invest in it off the court on his own in a way that I think is meaningful”.

That actually appeared to be pretty accurate based on what Williamson looked like before the season tipped off.

Zion. Scary hours. pic.twitter.com/zZEI9gnG5q

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 18, 2023

Now though, Williamson looks to be reverting back to old habits and in the process has struggled to maintain his effectiveness on both ends of the floor.

Whether that is physical, mental or a combination of both is something only Williamson knows.

For former teammate J.J. Redick, it is about a lack of motivation or, as he puts it, Williamson not “buying into his own career”.

“I was disappointed, and overall I’ve been disappointed in Zion this season,” Redick said on ESPN’s ‘NBA Today’.

“Look, we can certainly point to counting stats and say he’s having a fine season. But you can be in the building, you can watch on TV, you can be courtside and you can see he’s not in shape.

“He’s still not in shape despite everything that he’s gone through. Despite numerous conversations with legends of the game about being in shape. He gets called out on national television once or twice a year for this very thing.”

Redick is right too. Only last week both Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley voiced their concerns for Williamson, drawing on their own personal experiences in the process.

Will Zion Williamson fulfil his potential? Chris Graythen/Getty Images/AFP

“I had the same problem my first and second year. I thought I was running hard. Charles [Barkley] has talked about this,” O’Neal said on TNT.

“Because my talent’s going to get me 20 [points]. When I started getting to 30-40, it’s because I started doing certain things.

“He doesn’t create easy points for himself. He doesn’t see [open teammates]. He doesn’t demand the ball … Charles always talks about how you can’t have a little guy guard you. He doesn’t have that ‘look’. Like, ‘I’m the greatest ever.’ I know a look when I see it.

“... Once he decides to be that killer and go for it, he’s going to be a dangerous person.”

Barkley, meanwhile, took the conversation one step further, given there is a fair argument that as currently constructed the Pelicans as a team can only go as far as Williamson takes them.

“Zion is the wildcard,” Barkley said.

“They got depth, they got two All-Stars named Ingram and McCollum. I’ve said before, this team is scary on paper but it’s all going to come down to Zion. He’s got to get himself in better shape because McCollum and Ingram, man they’re a handful.”

Barkley echoed O’Neal’s sentiments, suggesting Williamson “plays the game strictly on talent”.

At the moment though, that talent is not being used to its full potential, especially when it comes to effort areas on both ends of the floor.

You only have to watch a few of the below examples from ‘X’ account Pro Pels Talk, including one where Williamson watches on as Jonas Valanciunas is double teamed.

“You have to want the basketball, you have to demand the basketball. This is not demanding or wanting the basketball.”

-Zions effort on defense
-Zion Closeouts
-Zion lost on offense

📺- https://t.co/gHLXi3sjOfpic.twitter.com/4M3zHA4oDJ

— Pro Pels Talk (@ProPelsTalk) December 8, 2023

Last post, and I wish there was a better angle.

But Zion has no intent to even try and help CJ McCollum on a back screen.

Cam Reddish is shooting 16% from deep in his last 10 games. pic.twitter.com/tVi214bzdB

— Pro Pels Talk (@ProPelsTalk) December 8, 2023

“He never runs on a fastbreak,” Barkley added.

“He’s kind of like jogging on offence and defence. Somebody has got to get a hold of him because he’s got so much talent... he could be special.”

And that is what the conversation about Williamson will continually come back to. The fact he was a first overall pick. The fact this is now his fourth season in the NBA. The fact the Pelicans gave him a five-year extension worth up to $231 million.

That, along with Williamson’s long history of struggling with his weight and conditioning, has Bill Simmons concerned the Pelicans may not even get fair value if they tried to move on from him.

“I think they may have missed their window now,” Simmons said on his podcast.

“I don’t know what you’d get for him because it’s a super expensive guy who is not in shape. I’ve seen a lot of NBA seasons, this never ends well.”

New Orleans bought into Williamson’s career. Now it is time for him to do the same, according to former teammate Redick.

“Earlier this season, he had a press conference where he was talking about trying to buy in what the team wanted, and the reality is Zion Williamson has not bought into his own career yet,” Redick said.

“And that is disappointing because as someone who is a fan of his, a former teammate, a fellow Duke guy, I know — we all know — how great he can be. We’ve seen those flashes of greatness.

“But to do that for an extended period of time, to reach his full potential…. he’s never going to get there if he doesn’t buy into his own career.”

Originally published as Stark Zion trade reality ... and moments that exposed NBA superstar