NBA 2K27 may have stumbled into a lineup wrinkle the New Orleans Pelicans should at least be willing to test: Zion Williamson at center.
That idea surfaced after the Pelicans’ roster in the game listed Williamson’s primary position as the five, which is not how he’s typically slotted on standard rosters. Normally, he shows up as a power forward, and that’s the spot most people would expect him to occupy next season, especially with Yves Missi emerging. Still, the notion of Williamson handling center duties for stretches fits with the work he’s been showing off on social media.
There’s a real basketball reason to be intrigued, too. New Orleans went into the summer needing veteran help at center and more floor spacing, and it didn’t really land either. Putting Williamson at the five could help create some of that spacing by letting the Pelicans lean into smaller, more versatile groups.
The team already flirted with that direction late last season under interim head coach James Borrego. He used Herb Jones, Saddiq Bey, Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy III, and Williamson together to open games, essentially putting the best five players on the floor and trying to win the possession battle that way. In those looks, Jones was usually the one handling the center role on defense, and that’s the part that would still make sense if New Orleans revisits the idea.
The problem was the boards. Those lineups got hammered on the glass, and none of the five were major rebounders.
That’s fixable, but only if the Pelicans treat small-ball differently the next time around. Under Borrego, they tried to play fast, and that worked in spots.
But when you don’t have a true big anchoring the paint, you can’t afford to send everyone leaking out and hoping to outrun the defense.
If New Orleans wants to use Williamson at center again, the approach has to be more controlled. The team would need to slow the game down, crash the defensive glass, and let the offense flow through Williamson around the block or the free-throw line. That’s where the fit gets interesting, because the Pelicans have plenty of cutters and enough shooting to build around him in those alignments.
A group with Jones functioning as the defensive five and then sliding into screening and cutting work on offense could be dangerous if his shot rebounds. Put Williamson in the middle of the action as a hub, then surround him with Murphy III, Bey, and Bryce McGowens, and the floor starts to open up in a hurry.
New Orleans has depth, which means there’s room for some lineup creativity. That doesn’t mean Jamahl Mosley has to go all-in on the idea the way Borrego did, but for certain matchups, a Zion-at-center look could be worth dusting off for stretches.
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