For Zion Williamson To Dodge Pelicans Draft Pick, NBA Experts Suggest Options

The shock of New Orleans Pelicans winning the Draft Lottery on Tuesday and getting a chance to potentially sign the country’s top prospect Zion Williamson is still the main talking point among NBA experts. The New York Knicks fans went into meltdown after it was confirmed that they will not have a chance to land the Duke forward and instead have to settle for the No.3 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.

All the conversations are surrounding Williamson with ESPN’s Marc J Spears reporting that the forward was not too happy after seeing the Pelicans land the No.1 pick as he had his heart set on a move to the Madison Square Garden to play for the Knicks. And many experts are now advising the forward to consider options that will see him play elsewhere while Colin Cowherd has also advised the Knicks to trade their No.1 pick and make a playoff contention team next season.

Williamson does still have the option to opt out of the draft and return to Duke for another year of college basketball and enter the draft again next year. But that is possibly the most unlikely of all the scenarios. The second option is to opt out of the draft and train separately and compete with the national team for one year before entering the draft again in 2020 and the option competing overseas is also available.

Cowherd, meanwhile, provided a third option where the Knicks can decide to pick Williamson and then trade him to another team for players and future draft picks and begin a proper rebuild. The New York franchise is almost certain to lose Anthony Davis in the summer and Cowherd is of the opinion that another player with similar game style will not help them turn their fortunes around.

The NBA expert is certain that if they trade Williamson to the Philadelphia 76ers for Ben Simmons and future draft picks, and then manage to trade Anthony Davis to the Lakers and bring in young players like Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram, they will be better suited going into next season. He is certain it will make them playoff contenders unlike if they choose to retain Williamson.

The one example of such a scenario everyone is pointing toward is Eli Manning, who was picked by the San Diego Chargers in the 2004 NFL Draft. But the player had in advance made his intentions clear about not wanting to play in San Diego and on draft day, he was traded to the New York Giants for Phillip Rivers and picks.

This scenario shows that Williamson is not out of options if he decides that New Orleans is not the franchise for him. He can either opt out of the draft or he can engineer a trade to another franchise and Cowherd is certain that it is the best option, one where both player and franchise will benefit.