Nicolo “Italian Santa Claus” Melli set the world on fire when he scored 14 points in his NBA debut, broadcast for everyone to see on TNT. The highlights of that performance were the first I made for this season. Thousands of vids will pass through my channel, but there can be only one that is the first for a season.
I didn’t know anything about him at the time, and was actually barely cognizant of him being on a roster at all. But when I saw those 14 points, I knew: the Pelicans had their stretch-four of the future, the perfect man to pair with Zion Williamson. But Melli did not really build on that impressive debut. He eventually scored 16, but in between was a bunch of nothing, and even more recently, a bunch of DNP-CDs.
Until tonight. A rare start empowered him, and he managed to easily notch a career high of 20 points while Andre Drummond sulked around and looked like he would rather be anywhere than where he actually was. In his debut it seemed like he’d be a nice fit with Williamson, but now it turns out that he’s ACTUALLY a nice fit with Jahlil Okafor. As in, the fit has been proven and it’s perfect. Okafor inside, Melli outside, what are opposing defenses supposed to do about that? Nothing. Just lie down and take it.