The New Orleans Pelicans have managed to have a successful season this year, given the fact that they have been without Zion Williamson for the entire year. Under the leadership of Brandon Ingram, the Pelicans managed to make the playoffs via the play-in tournament and even managed to take 2 games from the No. 1 seeded Phoenix Suns.
On paper, the Pelicans should be an even better team with Zion Williamson. He gives them another high-volume scorer, and his dominance in the paint will open things up for his teammates to operate.
Recently, Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado has claimed that the Pelicans would be a championship-caliber team with Zion Williamson. He pointed out that the Pelicans have a lot of talented players already, and it makes sense for them to take a leap with an All-NBA level player coming back from injury.
"When we get him back, we won't just be a playoff contending team, we'll be a championship team. I really think that.. We got young cats that are ready to go at it."
Jose Alvarado is looking forward to Zion Williamson's Pelicans return
(h/t @_Talkin_NBA)https://t.co/zKBfNrDQYh
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 9, 2022
When we get him back, we won’t just be a playoff contending team, we’ll be a championship team. I really think that. We got young cats that are ready to go at it. We got BI playing at a high level, JV. We got some guys who are ready to start winning more games.
There is no doubt that the New Orleans Pelicans could potentially build on their playoff appearance. Some people have compared Brandon Ingram to superstar Kevin Durant, and he could potentially be even better next season. With improvements from other young players like Herb Jones and Trey Murphy III, they could definitely make some noise in the Western Conference.
It remains if things do in fact go as planned for the Pelicans. There are times when talented players simply don’t end up developing chemistry with one another, and the team ends up underperforming. However, based on the chemistry that we saw with this New Orleans Pelicans team, that seems very unlikely.
