Revisiting Pelican’s 2019 Draft Pick: Zion Williamson vs. Ja Morant, Was The Pick Worth It?

Few people would have argued as to which NBA draught pick from 2019 would take a quantum leap in year three to emerge as a dark horse MVP candidate and propel their squad to the third seed. The New Orleans Pelicans couldn’t have wished for a better NBA superstar than LeBron James or even beyond him when they chose Zion Williamson with the first overall pick in the 2019 Draft.

Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen said, “Michael Jordan,” when asked if Zion Williamson was the best NBA prospect since on ESPN’s “The Jump” at the time. Yes, before LeBron.

Revisiting Pelican’s 2019 Draft Pick: Zion Williamson vs. Ja Morant, Was The Pick Worth It?

The draught as a whole was a last-minute decision, and the first overall pick was like a winning lottery ticket Zion Williamson, a 6-foot-7, 285-pound (129kg) giant athlete tipped to be the calibre of player capable of altering a franchise’s fortunes, much as a Nikola Jokic or Giannis Antetokounmpo have in recent years, was the centre of all the attention as to which team would sign him away from Duke.

“God’s hand is on Zion as she participates in this game. Just after the draught, David Griffin, the Pelicans’ executive vice president of basketball operations, told USA Today that he was a “population of one.”

Ja Morant, a small-framed, 6-foot-3 point guard from Murray State, was left available as the Memphis Grizzlies’ second-round pick, serving as something of a consolation prize.

However, after two and a half years and the spectacular rise of Morant, there is now a legitimate disagreement about who the true winner of the 2019 draught was. Heck, 22-year-old Morant, who is in the same league as Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, and LaMelo Ball, might possibly be the best up-and-coming player in the whole NBA.

Ja Morant stats

Before the NBA world’s eyes, Ja Morant has developed into a superstar this season. He is now in contention for the MVP and has advanced to the level of All-Star and All-NBA.

Morant has regularly improved his performance against the greatest teams in the NBA during the Grizzlies’ current 10-game winning streak, scoring 30 points or more against the Suns, Nets, and Lakers.

Most recently, the Grizzlies defeated the dominant Golden State Warriors and outplayed Steph Curry, prompting Steve Kerr to agree that Memphis has developed into one of the league’s top teams, a sentiment that Morant shares.

Ja Morant, who is the youngest player in NBA history to average at least 25 points a game during a double-digit winning streak, according to research from the Elias Sports Bureau, said after the victory over the Warriors, “Number one, we’re one of the top teams in the league.”

It should be mentioned that Morant defeated Williamson, who was limited to 24 games due to a knee injury, to win the 2020 Rookie of the Year Award (just one media member out of 100 didn’t vote for him). Zion Williamson, though, was more skilled at the time and very likely would have won if he had been fit for a larger chunk of the season.

However, Morant has significantly improved since then and is now playing with the kind of assurance that only the league’s finest players possess. Every time he touches the ball, he exudes an aura that something significant is about to occur, and most of the time, it happens.

However, Williamson has only played in 85 of a possible 185 games because of injuries and other setbacks, so he hasn’t even had a chance to demonstrate his skills. Williamson’s debut season was cut short by a knee injury, as previously reported, and a foot issue has kept him out of action for the entire 2021–2022 season with no immediate prospects of recovery.

But for now, we don’t even know how long Williamson’s NBA career will last, or even if he’ll come back, considering his massive frame and tremendous athleticism.

Zion Williamson, who is only 21 years old and may be the NBA’s leading injury lightning rod, may feel unfairly treated by all of this at this point in his career. Considering that he averaged an astounding 27 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game in his second season, he was an All-Star, an honour Morant has yet to receive. Realistically, Williamson outperformed Morant during the same time span of their careers while he was healthy.

Zion Williamson and Ja Morant will ultimately be compared throughout the rest of their careers, whether it’s fair or not. However, it is undeniable that the two are currently travelling along very divergent paths, with one aiming for the stars.

Zion Williamson Stats

 

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