The New Orleans Pelicans Have The Perfect Zion Williamson Insurance

Let’s get something absolutely clear.

No one wants a world where Zion Williamson isn’t running up and down an NBA court. The former – and presumably future – All-Star forward is one of the most entertaining players the league has to offer, and his production has a tremendous impact on winning basketball games.

In short: It’s always preferable that Williamson plays.

However, it is fair to point to his modest 85 career games and arm oneself with a skeptical approach to his future, in regards to general availability. Williamson has indeed entered “We need to see it” territory.

With that in mind, the New Orleans Pelicans have done quite the job safeguarding themselves from the worst-case scenario of losing Williamson for an extended period of time.

Talent on stand-by

Herb Jones and Trey Murphy are both entering their second seasons with the franchise, and both project as highly impactful players, albeit in different ways.

Jones outright has the defensive upside to be talked about as one of the greatest in his generation on that end of the floor. At 6’8 with a 7-foot wingspan, Jones not only has the physical tools to make himself a nuisance, he’s also got elite footwork, a motor that never quits, and a keen sense of defensive knowhow.

One could easily make the argument that Jones, the more he progresses, could turn into the league’s most agile defender, capable of guarding all five positions. Heck, he’s already there at some level, but refinements over the next few years are only going to make him even more effective.

Offensively, Jones lacks the explosiveness that his teammate has (we’ll get to that), but does offer some shooting upside, as he hit 33.7% from three-point range in his rookie season, albeit on a small 2.2 attempts-per-game sample size. As he develops, it’s likely he settles into a role where the vast majority of his offense will be generated by others, to an even greater extent than the rate of 70.8% of his shots that he was assisted on last season.

(Somewhat quietly, Jones converted 68.5% of his shots from within three feet during his debut season, which made up over 41% of his offense. That avenue could be further explored over the next few years.)

Instead of being a high-volume scorer, Jones has a generally underappreciated passing game. While he’s no Chris Paul, he’ll make passes on the move, can at times be relied upon to get the offense moving. His 2.1 assist rate from last season assuredly downplays his talent as a playmaker.

As for Murphy, he’s a far more natural shooter, and overall scorer, than Jones. The 6’9 forward is ready to launch at any given point, having attempted 186 three-pointers in just 864 minutes during his rookie year. Per-36 minutes, Murphy took 7.7 shots from beyond the arc, a number that’s sure to increase as he gets even more familiar and comfortable with the NBA game.

While less effective at converting on interior shots as Jones, Murphy converted on over 58% of his shots from within three feet, should be a key area of improvement as to not get stuck as a player with a singular offensive skill.

Fortunately for Murphy, almost 20% of his offense was made up from interior shots, which shows an interest in being more multifaceted as an offensive weapon.

It’s also worth noting that Murphy played just 13.9 minutes last season, and made that work to his benefit. Low minute totals can often affect a player’s rhythm, but in case of Murphy, he came into games ready to contribute offensively. While he did have games where his shot looked less effective, it never deterred him from shooting – a key skill for players who are actively looking to grow on that end of the floor.

For Murphy, the next step is finding consistency. He didn’t record a game of double figure scoring until his 37th appearance, having in the meantime had 17 games of 15 or more minutes. He made up for that by averaging 10.1 points over the final 16 games of the campaign, and now it’s up to him to start off better, and maintain that level for a longer period of time.

Fortunately for him, odds of that happening are good. The Pelicans have what the kids call a “good vibes” team, where good chemistry runs deep, and everyone gets their time in the sun. Murphy is going to get opportunities, even with Williamson and Jones already soaking up a lot of the forward minutes.

Solid insurance policy

The duo of Jones and Murphy is one that could be highly intriguing in its own right, even on a team without Williamson. For them to be there, ready to go, on a team that does feature the superstar is a tremendous boon for executive David Griffin, who now in his back pocket has quality insurance in case the franchise needs to go DEFCON 1, should Williamson miss time again.

On some level, even labeling Jones and Murphy as insurance could be downplaying their individual potential. This isn’t to say both are going to develop into perennial All-Stars, but it’s certainly within the realm of possibility that both end up as high-end starters, Jones probably earlier than Murphy.

If so, that’s a luxury most teams simply don’t have, and with the Pelicans having acquired CJ McCollum at last season’s trade deadline, while still having Jonas Valanciunas holding down the center spot, the Pelicans have created a baseline of talent so high, the team could duplicate last season’s playoff run even without Williamson once more.

Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.