 Joel, there is such a buzz about this face off, which has now become a fierce rivalry. But there's also an excitement in this crowd about Zion Williamson. It's been a hard balance, because I am 19, and I do just want to get back out there. But from a professional standpoint, I do have to look at longevity. Zion was back to light dunking in practice today, which is awesome to see. Now, there's no specific date on the calendar circled yet for his return. He does need to pass several benchmark assessments before he's ready for game time action. But Joel, you can tell his debut is coming sooner rather than later, and it is an infectious excitement from the fans to the team. So it looks like it's officially time. We've seen Zion Williamson train and throw down some incredible dunks, and of course there's still room for him to lose weight, learn how to walk a bit better, because all of that is going to make him a great player and prevent him from getting future injuries. But in saying that he's about to make his return, he's actually going to play this season, which many people actually believed it wouldn't ever happen. Because like Ben Simmons, Blake Griffin, a lot of other guys, they miss their opening rookie season so they can get healthy for the next season and dominate. Zion Williamson, he's breaking that. Most teams would sit him out for the remainder of the season and get his body right. But not the Pelicans. And as an NBA fan, I'm ecstatic about that. But I'm also very cautious. I don't want Zion Williamson to return when he's not 100% ready. Of course the Pelicans will make him 100% ready, but at times players come back ready just because they're so anxious and so determined to get back to the court. Zion's the first overall pick. There's as much pressure on him to enter the league as there has been for any other player ever. He's the guy that's the number one pick, the most hyped up prospect since 2003. Yet, he's coming off a meniscus tear, he's coming off a lot of weight, and he's coming into the NBA against grown men. Will he be ready? And what can we expect from Zion Williamson in his opening and rookie season? If you enjoy these sorts of videos, I'd greatly appreciate it if you guys could leave a like to support the channel. Let's see if we reach 1,000 likes for the next video. If you're new around here, why not hit that subscribe button for NBA content every single week and hit the notification button so you never miss an upload. Thanks for all the support. I really appreciate it. And let's get into the video. What can we expect from Zion Williamson? Well, to start off with, we saw Zion Williamson put in work before tip-off of the Los Angeles Lakers game. It was the Pelicans vs. Lakers, and Zion Williamson was practicing before the game, and he looked like a high-flying beast that we've missed since the start of the year. He's wearing a knee brace, which has to be expected he should wear that throughout the remainder of the year, and maybe even for the rest of his career if it prevents him from getting future injuries on his knee, because the man carries a lot of weight, and you can still see that when he's practicing. Of course, he looked a little bit slimmer, and he doesn't look like Zion that was injured watching the Summer League anymore. He doesn't look that big. He's obviously lost a bit of weight, but it's going to be interesting to see what he looks like next year when he has a full off season to get healthier. He works on his stance and his walk, because if you didn't know, Derek Rose and Zion Williamson have a very similar walk. Sure, he walks and plays basketball like a five-year-old writes their name. Yes, he's blazed past the competition, but did it like a Formula One with refrigerators for wheels. And yes, his dominance was clear, but his game resembled a brick and a blender. Derek is the classic we flawed, where his ability is his downfall. In those cases, we hold them high. We rebel in their moment of existence and cherish and celebrate the bright star they were, and not make the horrific gruesome burnout the tale that we pass on. Derek Rose is not a what if. He's not a what if story. He's a what the f*** story. And we know how Derek Rose's knee injuries have been throughout his career, and Zion Williamson carries a lot more weight, which makes it even more scary. And I think if Zion can take anything from Derek Rose, well, Derek Rose said it himself. And I quote, I mean, it's a lot. First is your weight, Rose said. I remember playing for the USA teams, and I think my second time we were going and seeing all these doctors, and I was getting these MRIs, and I was still feeling pain in my knees certain days. It all came down to my weight. Nobody said nothing about my weight. I think I was around 212 or 214 pounds at the time. I was too heavy. It was the little things. I had to watch my diet. Once I watched my diet, I was fine. That was something I didn't have to worry about. But obviously, yeah, Zion Williamson, he knows this. Everybody and their mom has told him he needs to lose weight. That isn't something new. But what is new is the way that Zion Williamson walks. And that's something that the pelicans have tried to adjust. The pelicans are now looking at ways in which they can fix Zion Williamson's walking technique. And there's a great video and channel called Brian Satterer, and he's a doctor who specializes in sports injuries. And he talks about how Zion Williamson and other NBA players can learn how to walk and get back from their injuries. So if you want to watch a full in-depth video, I'll leave a link to his channel in the description. But basically, they're looking to improve Zion Williamson's kinetic chain, which I'm going to let Brian explain briefly. Having a poor kinetic chain can be the difference between looking like for a scump, pre and post leg braces. So how do we evaluate the kinetic chain and measure for these potential movement deficiencies like we can see in Zion? Let's start off by talking about what the pelicans might do to address Zion's gait. Going back to my first video, it appears that Zion has more of what we'd call a knee valgus alignment with his gait. Looking straight on at my knees, this would be an example of a good neutral alignment. If the knees are falling inward, we'd call that a knee valgus position, similar to what it looks like Zion could have. And this is the same way that Derek Rose walked when he first came into the league. He almost had a bit of a limp when he started to walk in the NBA, and that's very similar to Zion Williamson, which is why it's of the utmost importance to make sure that Zion Williamson can learn how to properly walk before he starts running again. Which is what scares me, but at the same time, I really want to see him play. I just hope he's able to say when he's ready or not. But from all the news and speculation, it seems that we're sooner than later. Zion went through his full practice with the Pelicans on Thursday morning, and the organisation is hopeful that he will make his professional debut during the month of January. It's also stated that Zion won't be playing against the Lakers who they just played, and then the Kings, but according to Alvin Gentry, his return could come just after that. So what can we really expect on Zion Williamson? I obviously believe he'll be on a minutes restriction for the remainder of the year. I do believe he'll start, he won't be like Michael Porter Jr. who basically got no minutes, but obviously has talent, which that's another video in itself. But, Zion Williamson will get the minutes, he will be on a minutes restriction, and I do believe he will start, but I don't think he's going to turn the Pelicans around, they're currently 11 and 23, and they're well outside the playoff picture. He's not going to make them a playoff team, but what he will do is give the Pelicans some hope. He's going to provide some new opportunities for other players, and we will probably see the rise of someone like Lonzo Ball who will benefit off playing with Zion Williamson. Players like Brandon Ingram will be interesting to see how he adjusts with a guy like Zion Williamson next to him, because obviously Zion's going to clog up the paint, as he's not that great of an outside shooter yet. Will Brandon Ingram be able to do what he's been doing, averaging 25 points per game? That's going to be interesting to see. But Zion Williamson, at the end of the day, he's got to look at his career from a longevity standpoint. Should he really be trying to get the rookie of the year this season? Because he still can win it. If he has an amazing second half of the year, he can still win the rookie of the year. I just don't believe he will win the rookie of the year this year. I don't believe it's healthy for him to go out there, play at the amount of minutes that he will need a plate to win the rookie of the year, unless he's that good and just absolutely dominates on a minutes restriction. I think he will be a little bit like Joelle M. Bede when he first entered the league. Joelle M. Bede was obviously on his rookie year, having a lot of minutes restricted from his game. Now he's fully healthy and one of the best big men in the game. He never won the rookie of the year, but at the end of the day, nobody cared. Nobody looks back and is like, oh, he didn't win the rookie of the year. Trash. Nobody does that. The rookie of the year is not that big of a deal, and I don't think Zion should really aim to win that award. I believe he should be able to look at his career from a longevity standpoint. Yeah, he can still make the all rookie first team. But in the end, after this year, it doesn't matter. He's going to want to be an all star. He's going to want to be an MVP someday, an NBA champion. So at the end of the day, I don't believe he will win the rookie of the year, and I don't think the Pelicans will make him play that many minutes to where he can win the rookie of the year. So in my opinion, I believe that this season, when he returns, he'll average around 15 to 18 points per game, six to eight rebounds per game, one steal, one block, and the next season, once he has a full off season to get healthy, lose some weight, work on his skills, I believe that next season, that will be the year of Zion Williamson actually making his NBA stance in the league. And I believe that he'll end up being a guy like Luca Doncic and Trey Young, where he breaks out even in just his second year, being one of the top guys in the league, even in just his second year. But as of this season and his rookie year, I don't believe we can expect Zion Williamson to be the NBA superstar straight out because that is just not realistic at all. And I don't want to be that guy, but I do believe that Zion Williamson will actually have another injury later down this season. He's probably going to play until up about March, and then I wouldn't be surprised if he has another small injury that makes him unavailable for the rest of the year. I don't want to jinx it, but that's just like a little suspicion that I have. And I hope I'm wrong. I really hope I'm wrong, but that's just what I believe. Anyway, let me know what you think about Zion Williamson. What do you think we can expect out of Zion this season? If you enjoy the video, let me know what you thought about it down below in the comment section. If you want to leave a like, that will be greatly appreciated. Let's see if we reach 1,000 likes for the next video. If you're new around here, be sure to hit that subscribe button. Hit the notification so you never miss an upload, and feel free to follow me on Instagram. With that said, this has been your morning Smith. I'm out. Peace.