Every defense in the league has spent years trying to funnel Zion Williamson into the same crowded spots and daring the New Orleans Pelicans to beat them another way. The idea behind the latest work out of training camp is simple enough: don’t ask Williamson to become a different player. Give him more answers.
That’s the heart of Jamahl Mosley’s push to widen Williamson’s offensive comfort zone. The goal isn’t to strip away the 26-year-old’s power game or his burst at the rim. It’s to add enough counters that defenders can’t keep loading up the paint and waiting for him to run into a wall.
A dependable midrange jumper, especially in that 12- to 17-foot window, changes the entire conversation. Right now, opponents can play several feet off Williamson on the perimeter, sit help around the elbows or baseline, and get ready to shrink the lane the moment he puts the ball down.
If he can stop and score before he gets all the way to the basket, those defenders have to think twice. That split-second hesitation can matter.
It can open driving lanes, force earlier rotations and create cleaner chances for Trey Murphy III on the perimeter.
The work between Williamson and Murphy III after practice has been one of the more encouraging signs. The two have been staying on the floor together, going through perimeter shooting drills and building pieces of a two-man game that fits what each does best. Murphy III, already a proven outside threat, has even been passing along shooting pointers while Williamson keeps working to make that part of his offense more natural.
There have been a few fun flashes along the way, too. Williamson has beaten Murphy III in at least one 3-point shooting competition and knocked down a handful of long-range shots in preseason action.
None of that means the shot is suddenly solved. But it does show Williamson is leaning into Mosley’s message.
The issue is as mental as it is mechanical. If he keeps turning down open midrange looks in favor of tougher shots at the rim, defenses get exactly what they want.
If he takes the jumper, even when it doesn’t drop, he starts forcing opponents to make a different choice.
That’s the test here. Mosley is asking Williamson to understand that sometimes the right answer is the shot he’s spent most of his career avoiding. And if that happens often enough, the finishes that made him a superstar should be there waiting again.
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Smiths appeal is obvious for a team that has spent plenty of time searching for two-way stability on the perimeter, and Holt offers a different kind of upside if his scoring continues to rise. A recent mock draft from Sam Vecenie put both players near the top of the board, which only adds to the sense that New Orleans may be watching a draft lane open up toward the kind of high-level fit it can actually use. [Read more 🡒]