The word on the street (an area that DownToBuck is well acquainted with) is that Zion Williamson, after half a season spent sitting on the bench in a suit, is going to play as soon as this week. But you know what? That dude can take all the time he needs coming back. Take a few extra weeks. Maybe spend some time working on conditioning, or trying to fix his waddly gait. Because the Pelicans ALREADY have a blue-chip high draft pick from Duke, and his name is Jahlil Okafor.
Jahlil Okafor, to quote the great Monta Ellis, “have it all”. Here’s a full list of the all he was having this game:
-25 points (Andre Drummond status: bitch)
-14 rebounds (Andre Drummond status: bitch)
-5 assists (they were literally all handoffs but who cares that’s how Jokic gets his dimes so you know it’s a good strategy)
-3 blocks (Andre Drummond status: you guessed it: bitch)
If the Pelicans coaching staff removed their collective heads from their collective posteriors, and started Okafor on a regular basis, they would get this kind of production consistently (like they did last year). Sure, he developed kind of a bad reputation in Philly, but you know why that was? Because that team was still tanking the whole time he was there. Defense? Who cares. This dude, when you give him touches, will give you buckets.
Everyone is all hyped for Williamson, but look at this scoring. Look at these buckets. As I said before: “have it all”. He was basically the point guard out there for chunks of this game. What even is Williamson’s scoring move besides “drive wildly into the paint and try to slam it while risking total ligamental devastation”? Okafor doesn’t even need to jump to score if he doesn’t want to.
I’m guessing it’s going to take two or three years before we see a performance comparable to this one from Williamson. That’s what the young kids call a “hot take”, but how hot is it really when it’s totally true?