It was all smiles at the introductory press conference for New Orleans Pelicans recent acquisition Dejounte Murray, who brings promise on the court as a two-way guard who can both facilitate and play defense, as well as promise off the court, in the form of a simple pledge.
As reported by Will Guillory on X, Murray spoke about darkhorse MVP candidate Zion Williamson, saying, “that’s our superstar…I told him I’m going to push him.”
How To Win the MVP
We’re on a six-year streak of big men winning the MVP, with Nikola Jokic (three times), Joel Embiid (once) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (twice) leading the way. Each of those players put up monster offensive numbers paired with good-to-great defensive numbers on teams that won 48 games or more.
Zion wasn’t quite at an MVP level in 2023-24, scoring 22.9 points per game to go with 5.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.1 steals, shooting 57% from the field.
Although the Pelicans were dispatched in quick fashion in the 2023-24 NBA playoffs (Williamson missed the entire series), losing in a four-game sweep to the Oklahoma City Thunder, they were a quality club on both sides of the ball for most of the regular season. Their record of 49-33 earned them the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, with a quality offensive rating of 117.4 (11th) and a defensive rating of 112.9 (7th).
The addition of Murray combined with continued improvement from Williamson and solving the Brandon Ingram conundrum could push the Pelicans past the 50-win plateau.
Unlocking Zion’s MVP Potential
The former No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft has had extremely high expectations since joining the league, but he’s not yet received any MVP consideration. As of July 1, 2024, Zion has the 13th-best odds to win the 2024-25 NBA MVP award (+10000, via DraftKings).
Zion isn’t unlike Giannis in the sense that you know what you’re going to get from him, but you can’t do much to stop it. He’s not going to beat you with 3-pointers, but if he gets you on an island, he’s going past you and you’re going to have a lot of trouble stopping his 6-foot-6, 284-pound frame from going right through your chest and into the restricted area.
In 2023-24, Zion took a step forward in his passing, averaging a career-high 5 assists per game. The Pelicans didn’t employ a typical pass-first point guard, instead relying upon Ingram, CJ McCollum and Zion to keep the ball moving. With Murray in the fold, it will be interesting to see how many easy opportunities that opens up for Zion.
Defensively, Zion’s results have ebbed and flowed. As a whole, he was a serviceable defender last season, holding opponents to 0.4% below their season’s field goal percentage, getting the better of his matchups against LeBron James (shot 3-for-10, 3 TO), Paolo Banchero (shot 2-for-10) and Grant Williams (shot 2-for-7). On the other hand, he got eaten up by Harrison Barnes (10-for-17 shooting) and Rui Hachimura (7-for-7 from the field).
The bright side of the numbers show up when we look at what Zion did after the All-Star break, where he held opponents to 2.4% worse than their average shooting, including a really impressive 4.9% worse from greater than 15ft.
Murray’s statement that he’s going to push Zion sounds great, but the proof will come in the night-to-night results. If Zion can put forth that kind of defensive effort from late in the season on a consistent basis, along with refining and improving upon his offensive game, he absolutely could be in the MVP talks in 2024-25.
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Murray Calls Darkhorse MVP Candidate Zion ‘Our Superstar,’ Pledges to Push Him