On Wednesday, New Orleans Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin revealed that Zion Williamson will make his NBA debut on Jan. 22 against the San Antonio Spurs
And if all goes according to plan, the No. 1 overall pick's first appearance in Cleveland could come shortly after that.
Six days after Williamson's scheduled debut in New Orleans, the Pelicans will hit the road to face the Cavs in Cleveland on Jan. 28. And while it remains to be seen how New Orleans will handle Williamson's workload as he returns from the torn meniscus that delayed his NBA debut, there's at least now reason to believe the Duke product could be playing in the Pelicans' lone visit to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse this season.
A 6-foot-6, 284-pound forward, Williamson begins his NBA career as arguably the league's most highly touted rookie season LeBron James first suited up for Cleveland in 2003. In one season at Duke, the former 5-star prospect averaged 22.6 points on .680 percent shooting and 8.9 rebounds, all while filling social media and YouTube with a constant stream of highlight-reel worthy dunks.
After posting the second-worst record in the NBA last season, the Cavs entered the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery with hopes of landing the No. 1 overall pick in order to select Williamson. Instead, Cleveland saw its pick slide to No. 5, where it selected Vanderbilt point guard Darius Garland.
At the halfway point of the season, the Cavs lay claim to a 12-29 record, with Garland averaging 12.3 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.