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Zion Williamson Meets With Pelicans and Grizzlies, R.J. Barrett Huddles With Grizzlies, Knicks

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In the wake of Tuesday night's NBA Draft Lottery, Duke teammates Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett met here in Chicago with several of the teams at the top of the pecking order.

Williamson, the consensus No. 1 pick in the June 20 NBA Draft in Brooklyn, met with both New Orleans and Memphis, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. The Pelicans won the Zion Sweepstakes and hold the No. 1 overall pick, while Memphis picks at No. 2 and the Knicks at No. 3.

"It can be a possibility but it's not sure until it actually happens," Williamson said on ESPN of possibly playing for the Pelicans. "Whatever that team needs me to do, I'm going to be able to do it."

The 6-foot-7 Williamson has since departed for Durham, N.C., and will also train in his home state of South Carolina, Charania reported.

With Williamson a virtual lock to go No. 1 to New Orleans, ESPN's Jonathan Givony reported that Memphis has zeroed in on Murray State point guard Ja Morant at No. 2. The 6-3 Morant has drawn comparisons to Russell Westbrook.

"I’ll feel good going anywhere, honestly," Morant told me here Tuesday night after the Lottery. "Just to hear my name called, go across the stage, shake the Commissioner’s hand, that would be good."

Meantime, the 6-7 Barrett met Wednesday with the Grizzlies and Knicks, as I first reported over on ZAGSBLOG.

The left-handed Barrett has drawn comparisons to James Harden and would seem to be a great fit for the rebuilding Knicks at No. 3.

If the Knicks land Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving or Kemba Walker in free agency, they could pair them with Barrett and a young core of Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson and others.

“R.J. is one of those players,” Isiah Thomas, the Hall of Famer and former Knicks President and coach, said before the lottery. “Not only did he show it at Duke, but he showed it in high school. He’s been one of the top-rated players in the country and also in basketball over the last four or five years so he’s not a surprise to anyone.”

Rowan Barrett, R.J.'s father, played at St. John's, and his mother, Kesha, is from Brooklyn, so Barrett is very familiar with New York. He played his first game at Madison Square Garden in December when Duke beat Texas Tech. Afterward, as Williamson and Barrett dressed in the Knicks locker room, they joked with reporters about potentially playing for the Knicks.

Now one of them appears set to do so.

“I mean, it’s cool,” Barrett told SNY.tv of being in the Knicks locker room. “You grow up watching these teams play on TV and you get to be in the locker room. I’m sitting at my guy Allonzo Trier’s locker and he’s my guy, so it’s a great experience for us.”

Looming in the background for both Williamson and Barrett is the fate of New Orleans star Anthony Davis, who was the Pelicans only previous No. 1 pick. Davis has made it clear he wants to be traded to a contender, and the Pelicans will now likely field offers from the Lakers, Celtics, Knicks and others as a possible blockbuster trade looms for draft night.

"We have reason to believe we can build something that is attractive," David Griffin, the team's executive vice president, said in the giddy moments after the Pelicans landed the No. 1 pick Tuesday at the Chicago Hilton. "If I’m Anthony Davis, I’m skeptical. He felt compelled to try to win elsewhere. If you look at totality where this organization is, we feel very  strongly we’ll be the environment he wants to be in."

"If not we can deal with it from there. I’m looking at this believing he would want to win with us. It’s who we are. We knew we were the epicenter of the offseason. Now we are to a greater degree."