The New Orleans Pelicans have two of the best young players in the league in Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram.
The two were included on Bleacher Report’s recent best players under 25 list, which is starting to seem like an annual tradition.
A couple of things stuck out to me: First was that there are a lot of good players in the NBA who are under 25-years-old, as there are arguably 3-4 potential MVP candidates for next season on the list.
The second thing that stood out was that the two Pelicans’ players were both underrated. This makes some sense, as Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram have not enjoyed any team success and neither has made the playoffs in their young careers.
But I still thought they were too low, here are the guys they should be ahead of on the list.
New Orleans Pelicans: Brandon Ingram comes in at #15
Brandon Ingram came in at #15 on the list of best players under 25, which seems about right until you see some of the guys who are ahead of him.
The article sites Ingram’s lack of defense as his main flaw, as well as the fact that his numbers didn’t really improve from his all-star season. But he is still a 24 point per game scorer and a guy who can fill it up from all over.
I think he should have been ahead of OG Anunoby (#13) and possibly even DeAndre Ayton (#14) who are both better defenders but not half the scorers or playmakers that Ingram is.
New Orleans Pelicans: Zion Williamson is #4 on the best under 25 list
The most surprising entry was Zion Williamson, who was ranked as just the 4th-best player under 25 in the NBA.
Zion just put up a season where he averaged 27 points, 7 rebounds and 3.7 assists on historic shooting numbers, cementing himself as the best post player in the NBA at 21-years-old.
You can definitely make an argument for the three guys ahead of him, as Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum and Trae Young are all amazing and have had more team success than Zion.
I may be a homer, but I would put Zion Williamson ahead of Trae Young, who didn’t score as many points last season and is even worse than Zion on defense.
I’m not even sure I’d put Jayson Tatum ahead of Zion, as Mr. Williamson put up almost identical numbers and is a couple of years younger than Tatum.
I think Zion Williamson to win the scoring title next season is a great long shot bet and I would wager he’ll average over 30 points per game in just his third season.
Zion could easily be #2 on this list, though like I said, it is debatable. What’s not debatable is the the NBA is loaded with young talent and the future of the league is in good hands.
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September 19, 2021 at 08:01PM
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New Orleans Pelicans: 2 Pels underrated on B/R’s best under-25 list - Pelican Debrief
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