Zion Williamson And RJ Barrett Nearly Had An NBA Reunion

Some things you wish could go on forever. Watching Kon Knueppel and Cooper Flagg on the same team was a beautiful experience. A few years before they got to Duke though there was another Dynamic Duke Duo: RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson.

You may recall that when Barrett and Williamson got to town, Barrett was seen as the higher-rated player. There was a lot of curiosity about Williamson, but there was also a lot of uncertainty about whether or not he was as good as his viral high school videos suggested.

It didn’t take long for Williamson to prove that he was every bit as good as that and, in fact, underrated. In the first regular season game, against Kentucky in the Champions Classic, Williamson was astonishingly great. He immediately became a national sensation.

The best part of that season though was the chemistry that Williamson and Barrett developed. How often do you see Top Five players who do nothing but celebrate each other and work hard to win? It was really an extraordinarily fun team to watch.

Well, turns out they almost became teammates again: when New Orleans traded fellow former Blue Devil Brandon Ingram to Toronto, the teams discussed reuniting Williamson and Barrett in the Crescent City.

There’s no guarantee that they would have had the same sort of electricity in New Orleans. Barrett has become a very solid pro but not an elite player. Williamson is an elite player but injuries have made it hard for him to play consistently.

Even so, it would have been fun to see them playing together again. They really seemed to enjoy being teammates.