NY Knicks: Zion Williamson/RJ Barrett relationship is something to watch for

NY Knicks: Zion Willamson could grow tired of New Orleans mediocrity

Zion Williamson has only played two years in the league, but there has been zero progress or any indication that his team is headed in the right direction.

On paper, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram are one of the best young duos in the NBA. The Pelicans have a younger team, but in today’s NBA you can’t just call yourself a young team year after year as an excuse for losing.

It’s pretty clear that New Orleans’ front office has recognized that, as they fired recently fired head coach Stan Van Gundy and will now search for Williamson’s 3rd coach in three years. It may be a panic move, but it’s the right thing to do – This team absolutely needs to get to right in 2021-22 and compete for the playoffs, otherwise, the roster may begin to collapse.

An article came out about a week ago on the Athletic chronicling Stan Van Gundy’s demise and the current turmoil that has encapsulated the New Orleans Pelicans.

It was a detailed, in-depth look at Williamson and the team that was written by reputable reporters Shams Charnia, Joe Vardon, and William Guillory. The opening paragraph saying,

"“For months, sources from all NBA corners have pointed to the Pelicans as a heap of dysfunction. There was a growing unease between Van Gundy and his players, and Van Gundy and the New Orleans front office, which came to a head Wednesday with the veteran coach and organization agreeing to part ways with three years left on his contract. Most of the attention, however, from numerous sources across the league, has centered on Williamson’s family members’ thinly veiled unhappiness with the Pelicans, and whether those feelings seeped into the player’s own views.”"

Some might be seeing this as just noise, but when it’s a valid report with multiple plugged-in NBA sources contributing, you listen.

Look at what happened with the Dallas Mavericks, who coincidentally had a bombshell article also posted by The Athletic about the team’s troublesome front office, to which owner Mark Cuban responded with “Total Bull****”.

Well, one day later, their long-time general manager stepped down, and the next day, their long-time head coach Rick Carlisle, who Mark Cuban re-endorsed, decided to move on from the team. These reports matter.

It’s a pivotal time for the Pelicans’ organization to make the right decision at head coach and not be complacent with their roster decisions. They cannot just lurk around the 11th seed in the Western Conference for years with the “we’re still young” attitude.

Piecing everything together, from the multitude of connections to NY to the ongoing dysfunction in New Orleans, Zion Williamson looks like the young budding star that the NY Knicks actually have a realistic chance of acquiring in the next 1-2 years. Forget about the “Luka Doncic-Bradley Beal-LeBron James big-3 whatever-blah blah-awesome-cool that would be crazy” storylines that come with no evidence, but optimistically monitor the Zion Williamson situation.