Having paid top dollar to the Atlanta Hawks to acquire the youngster last summer<\/a>, it’s easy to see that Pels executives\u2014at least last year\u2014had an immense amount of faith in Queen to be a quintessential part of their future.<\/p>\n Queen’s minutes began to falter as a pit formed in the stomach of the Pelicans thanks to a tragic realization\u2014Queen and Zion can’t coexist.<\/p>\n In Zion’s minutes without Queen, the Pels finished with a +2.0 Net Rating in over 1,000 minutes. Vice versa, and Queen led the Pels to a respectable -4.1 Net Rating in over 1,000 minutes. Together, the two played nearly 700 minutes with a putrid -12.9 Net Rating.<\/p>\n Zion has meshed far better with the more defensive-oriented, bouncy rim protector Yves Missi, generating overwhelmingly better results.<\/p>\n By themselves, Queen and Zion can scorch and chill defenses. Together, they fizzle out in categorically unimpressive fashion.<\/p>\n Joe Dumars has stated that he believes Queen and Williamson need time to gel together, a la Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Unfortunately for Dumars, these players are nowhere akin to those two defensive-minded wings, who can easily thrive with each other. Two ball-dominant interior scorers have always struggled to produce in tandem.<\/p>\n With Zion seemingly being the odd man out in a young Pelicans squad, Atlanta would have to ask themselves one elephantine question\u2014do they believe Z can stay healthy if they wish to make a push for him?<\/p>\n Zion’s health isn’t nearly as red a flag as it was last year for Hawks<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\"){kind=icon}
Add us as a preferred source on Google