Despite being one of the most-hyped rookies in NBA history, Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans has yet to play anything close to resembling a complete 82-game regular season. The closest he’s come came in 2020-21 when he appeared in 61 contests. He then followed that up by missing the entirety of the 2021-22 campaign.
When healthy, there’s no denying Williamson’s talent. The former Duke product averaged 27 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists on 61.1% field goal shooting during his last “healthy” season.
This year, Williamson might not even reach 40 games.
Out For An Extended Period
With 16 regular-season games left on their 2022-2023 schedule, the Pelicans find themselves at the bottom of the West’s top ten and just half a game up on the Utah Jazz for the final berth in the play-in tournament.
Losers of seven of their past ten games, New Orleans has struggled to find any kind of consistency in the wide open Western Conference this year.
What’s surprising is that the Pelicans are still in the hunt for a spot in the play-in tournament despite Zion Williamson only playing 29 regular-season games thus far. New Orleans is 15-22 this season without Williamson, but are 8-20 since their star forward’s latest injury. Williamson last played on January 2nd, 2023.
Since then, Zion has been sidelined by a strained right hamstring. And according to the latest reports, Williamson will remain out for another two weeks- at the very least. However, Pelicans Head Coach Willie Green didn’t rule out a return before the end of the regular season.
“We’re definitely optimistic about that,” Green told reporters. A recent MRI “revealed that Williamson’s hamstring continues to heal,” according to a club statement. “His next examination will take place in approximately two weeks.”
That would put Zion’s potential return date close to the 10 game remaining mark for the Pelicans, who hope it won’t be a case of “too little, too late”.
Unfortunately for the team, Zion Williamson isn’t the only Pelicans player who is dealing with an injury. Jose Alvarado, Larry Nance Jr., and EJ Liddell are also out, while Brandon Ingram is listed as day-to-day after spraining his ankle on Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks.
Playoff Appearance in Trouble
The Pelicans are jockeying for position with the Los Angeles Lakers for the ninth and tenth spots in the West. And right now, it seems the Lakers are clicking at the right moment as they’ve won seven of their last ten games.
The Pelicans, on the other hand, are slumping at the worst possible time after being a mainstay in the West’s top six earlier on. Luckily for them, their schedule will give them some room to breathe over the next few contests.
New Orleans’ next seven games come against the Thunder, Trail Blazers, Lakers, Rockets (x2), Spurs, and Hornets.
While injuries are a part of the game, the Pels will need everyone healthy and playing at a high level if they intend to last longer than just the play-in tournament. More importantly, they’ll need a healthy Zion Williamson and his 26 points, seven rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 60.8 field goal shooting.
Assuming the Pels get past the play-in tournament and finish with the number eight seed, they would then face Nikola Jokic and the Conference leading Denver Nuggets.
But before they worry about that, they’ve got business at hand to attend to before shifting to any sort of postseason mentality.
-Iggy Gonzales
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.