Zion Williamson appears headed to the New Orleans Pelicans, a late aid package for a franchise that still hopes it can keep Anthony Davis in town. David Griffin will get that chance after the Pelicans won the NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday night, turning a six percent chance at the Duke standout into their next chance at a franchise player.
The broadcast was all about Zion, who appeared on screen for an interview with Duke teammate RJ Barrett before the Draft Lottery officially kicked off on ESPN. But once his time on screen was over, his place was taken by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who said just how badly the New York Knicks wanted Williamson.
Woj said that the team would want to pursue a trade for Anthony Davis this summer, but if they managed to snag the first overall pick there was no chance they were including that pick in a potential trade with the New Orleans Pelicans.
https://twitter.com/DavidEarly/status/1128459171521794049
Wojnarowski’s report that the Knicks had “no intention” of trading Williamson for Davis is a cruel irony of sorts given that the Pelicans themselves won the right to draft Williamson. Whether they’ll have the chance to pair Williamson and Davis on the court or find an offer that makes more sense for them in the coming offseason — or potentially before next winter’s trade deadline — is impossible to know. But Knicks fans who were dreaming of Zion at Madison Square Garden now know that it was ping pong balls, not the Knicks, who broke their hearts on Tuesday.
