Midway through Nicolo Melli’s stellar NBA debut Tuesday, NBA.com writer John Schuhmann tweeted out an offseason photo of a smiling Melli, with the caption “Zion’s hurt, but the Pels still have the Rookie of the Year.”
Although Schuhmann presumably was joking, the 6-foot-9 forward and native of Italy was worthy of high praise based on his performance vs. the Raptors, one of the bigger Pelicans bright spots in a 130-122 overtime defeat. Melli may have been playing in his first official NBA game, but he entered the nationally-televised game and Toronto’s “championship ring night” with a wealth of experience competing in difficult environments.