Duke basketball: Ranking all 27 Blue Devils in the NBA this season
By Matt Giles
Ranking Duke basketball’s NBA players this season: No. 1 Zion Williamson
- Age: 20
- Current team: New Orleans Pelicans (28-35)
- Games played this season: 58
- Games started: 58
- Season averages: 26.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 0.9 steals, 0.6 blocks
- Shooting percentages: 61.3 from the field, 31.3 beyond the arc, 69.7 from the foul line
No longer is Blue Devil treasure Zion Williamson just the future of the NBA. No, that future is already the present, in the form of a 6-foot-7, 285-pound new NBA invention emanating practically unguardable brilliance before our eyes.
Most notably, Williamson’s efficiency around the rim is utterly ridiculous in light of the fact he’s not getting anywhere near the number of calls he deserves. In other words, it appears the refs penalize the former No. 1 overall pick from 2019 for getting fouled seemingly every time he touches the ball.
Sure, as noted here with Brandon Ingram, the New Orleans Pelicans are likely to miss the playoffs by a smidge. Again, though, at least the franchise has improved a tad from last season.
And with respect to just Williamson, who is now proving to be fairly durable, it looks beyond absurd what all he is doing these days when comparing his stats per 36 minutes this season to those of a second-year LeBron James back in 2004-05 (on a Cleveland Cavaliers squad that finished with a 42-40 regular-season record):
- Zion: 29.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.7 blocks, 2.9 turnovers
- LeBron: 23.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.9 steals, 0.6 blocks, 2.8 turnovers
Yes, Williamson needs to ramp up his defensive efforts a bit and perhaps spruce up his shooting form in order to add more production from downtown. Of course, by doing so, he’d become beyond unstoppable.
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To summarize, not only is Zion Williamson already the No. 1 active NBA Blue Devil, but he is also on track to become the best Duke basketball pro of all time and potentially end up among the greatest players in the history of the sport, period.