After the Warriors were abandoned, Zion has now joined other teams to start!

NBA preseason has started, and today the Pelicans have a preseason match with Melbourne United. In the end, they defeated Melbourne United 107:97. In this game, the two important new players of the Pelicans made their debut, namely Jordan Poole and Kevin Rooney, and Zion also made his debut after losing weight.

Zion moved faster on the court after losing weight, but he was still very confrontational. Today, he scored 15 points and 5 rebounds in just 15 minutes of the game. Among them, the positive and negative values ​​are the highest positive 10 in the team. Jordan Poole also started today, scoring 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in 20 minutes of the game. Rooney also made the starter today, scoring 3 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block in the whole game.

Rooney left the Warriors who had played for 10 years and came to the Pelicans this offseason and was able to reunite with his old teammate Poole. During the offseason, Rooney said that his playing time was not stable when he was with the Warriors and did not receive full trust. After joining the Pelicans, the Pelicans obviously trusted Rooney very much, otherwise they would not have let him play as the starter directly. In fact, Rooney's frame protection quality on the court is not as good as Missy. But Rooney has strong pick-and-roll quality on the court, including rebounding ability. The Pelicans head coach has worked as an assistant coach for the Warriors before. He knows Rooney's characteristics very well, so letting him play as a starting player is also a manifestation of trust.

In fact, in strict sense, Rooney has an opportunity to re-prove himself in the Pelicans. In the new season, he can do some blue-collar work, such as providing more cover to Jordan Poole and providing more cover to Zion. In addition, he needs to provide more stable performance in rebounding. For example, he has always been very good at rebounding skills in the frontcourt, but in fact he can create more secondary offensive opportunities for Zion invisibly.

However, playing for Rooney in the Pelicans may also feel uncomfortable. For example, today's players rarely create offensive opportunities for Rooney. And in the Warriors, he may have more offensive space. Of course, it is the most important thing for Rooney to play. Only when he stands on the court can he have the opportunity to prove his abilities. In fact, strictly speaking, Cole owes Rooney an apology. After all, Rooney has made great contributions to the Warriors before, and he should have received stable playing time in the Warriors strictly. His function is still visible to the naked eye.