Zion Williamson has spent most of his NBA career answering the same two questions: can he stay on the floor, and can he do more offensively than punish teams in the paint? An offseason workout clip is not a full answer to either one, but it does offer a little fuel for the imagination.
Williamson played 62 games last season, which was the second most of his career, and by his credit he looked to be in great physical shape. That still leaves the biggest issue unresolved - no one knows yet whether he’ll carry that into another season. Training camp will tell that story soon enough.
The part that stands out in this latest workout, though, is the jumper. Williamson was getting work in with Pelicans forward Saddiq Bey, and the video made the rounds online as a sign that he may be spending real time on his outside shot.
Saddiq Bey and Zion Williamson getting in work together
Via- @krischrisp / IG pic.twitter.com/xV1FRIYRSW
- PPT (@ProPelsTalk) August 19, 2026
That kind of offseason clip always comes with a caveat. NBA players are known to look smooth from the perimeter in August even if that doesn’t carry over once the games start counting.
So this could be nothing more than a few casual makes from deep. It could also be the start of a real effort to broaden his game.
Either way, it’s worth watching once the preseason begins and the season gets rolling. Williamson has always been a monster around the rim, where he can score no matter how many bodies are packed into the paint. What has kept the criticism alive is the lack of a reliable three-point shot.
That part is hard to ignore. Williamson has shot just 32% from three-point range in his career and has averaged only 0.4 attempts per game. He has not exactly forced defenses to respect him outside the arc.
Still, even a modest jump from there would matter. He does not need to become a volume shooter or turn into Steph Curry.
He just needs enough of a threat from deep to make defenders think twice before camping in the lane. If that happens, the floor opens up for him and for the rest of the Pelicans.
A short workout video does not prove Williamson is about to start launching four or five threes a night. But it does give Pelicans fans something to watch closely, and maybe something to dream on, if he’s healthy and his jumper has really taken a step.
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Pelicans Frontcourt Suddenly Has A Debate Fans Wont Ignore
The Pelicans frontcourt is one of those roster areas that can look promising on paper and uncertain in practice all at once. New Orleans has real questions inside, but it also has two young big men who give the team something to build around, and The Athletics Zach Harper recently placed Derik Queen and Yves Missi in the lower tier of his NBA big-man rankings, with Queen at 34th and Missi at 31st.
Queen flashed enough offensive upside as a rookie to keep intrigue high, even if he has not yet locked down a starting job. Missi, meanwhile, brings raw size and shot-blocking ability and is expected to start because of how he fits, though his defensive rough edges remain part of the conversation. For a Pelicans team trying to figure out what its long-term front line should look like, the debate is less about whether these two matter than how soon they can become the kind of interior tandem that settles the whole rotation. [Read more 🡒]