Courting of Zion begins on the court
BEFORE he took his first snap with the Jets, Zach Wilson would have already been scrambling in vain. Zion Williamson would have owned this town as surely as the Steinbrenners own the Yankees, and he would have never given it up to Wilson, or Francisco Lindor, or Daniel Jones, or Aaron Judge.
Never, ever, ever.
It was hard for New Yorkers to avoid thinking of what might have been while watching the Pelicans’ 6-foot-7, 284-pound point guard — that’s right, point guard — explode to the rim Wednesday night against the team that had been dying to draft him, and proving himself to be a generational talent. The Knicks could have had instant access to Williamson, of course, if only the lottery gods had cut them a break.
But if luck is the residue of design, the Knicks’ design over the last two decades was unworthy of a favorable bounce. So instead of landing Williamson in 2019, and then using the rookie to persuade Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to sign up, the Knicks faced him in New Orleans with a little-engine-that-could cast focused on making the real playoffs (not the play-in version), and on making the Pelicans’ franchise player wish he were the Knicks’ franchise player.
The Knicks won, 116-106, nailing down their first four-game winning streak of the year. Julius Randle outscored Williamson, 32-25, a more significant development than Williamson (eight rebounds, seven assists) outscoring his Duke classmate, RJ Barrett, 25-6. The Knicks sank 17 3-pointers to New Orleans’ six, and that, as they say, was the ballgame.
Williamson, who needs some work on his foul shooting, actually had a couple of his shots blocked. Other than that, at age 20, he is exactly what Randle called him — a handful. Times 10. The good news is that the Knicks beat Williamson in their first matchup. The better news is that they made a hell of a first impression on him … for down the road.
As thrilled as their fans are to be 29-27, the Knicks still face the long-term proposition of building a program that can attract a superstar who would make them a legit championship threat. They still have to eventually field a contending team that, say, a Zion Williamson in his mid-20s would want to suit up for.
On that May 2019 lottery night when the Pelicans shocked the world, Williamson looked like a young man who might’ve been dreaming of playing in Madison Square Garden and was handed the Smoothie King Center instead. That doesn’t mean Williamson won’t happily spend his entire career in New Orleans, with or without Lonzo Ball, who is headed for restricted free agency and, perhaps, a home at MSG.
The truth is, even if the Knicks acquire the 23-year-old Ball and continue to develop the 20-year-old Barrett, that won’t be good enough to win it all. Look at the players who have won multiple rings over the past 30 years. Jordan. Kobe. Shaq. Duncan. LeBron. Curry. Durant. The Knicks need to finally figure out how to hire one of these people, and coach Tom Thibodeau’s league-leading defense and player development system — with an assist from Kenny Payne — is a promising place to start.
Though it’s highly doubtful Barrett could ever be the best player on the league’s best team, he might someday be good enough to attract another player capable of being the No. 1 option for a champion. Like the friend who is often cited as the Next LeBron — Williamson, who averaged 35 points, 10.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists during the Pelicans’ three-game winning streak the Knicks just ended.
“To have the combination of the power, the speed and the skill, it’s very, very unusual,” Thibodeau said. “And he’s come into the NBA and taken it by storm.”
As he weighs the risk of injury in the future, Williamson will most likely sign the kind of big extension, after next season, that Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell signed after Year 3. If the CAA Knicks are to have a good shot at the CAA client, Williamson, it would probably go down the Anthony Davis, New Orleans-to-Los Angeles way — through a forced trade during the player’s second deal.
If that feels like an eternity to a Knicks fan, well, the Lakers had to wait seven seasons to get Davis (another guy the Knicks couldn’t land), and the Heat had to wait seven seasons to get LeBron James. Trust the process.
Meanwhile, Thibodeau and company need to keep their heads down and earn the sixth playoff seed or better this spring and beyond. They have to showcase their new culture to the league’s elite players, just like they did Wednesday night, when they didn’t just beat Zion Williamson in Round 1.
They put on a great audition for him, too.