Zion Williamson – New Orleans Pelicans

After missing the final week or so of the 2020-21 regular season with a finger injury, Zion Williamson recently underwent foot surgery this offseason and is out indefinitely. In fact, there are reports that the New Orleans Pelicans did not even know about Williamson undergoing this right foot procedure and they reportedly found out right before training camp began. 

Ever since he entered the NBA, Zion Williamson has been one of the most talked-about players league-wide, but his health is definitely a long-term concern at this point. He only played in 24 games during his rookie season due to a knee injury and last season, he played in about 85% of the Pelicans’ total games. 

Now entering his third year in the league, Zion is expected to miss at least the first two weeks of the regular season, as he continues to recover from offseason foot surgery, but he could wind up missing even more time than imagined. 

The Pelicans have not laid out a timetable for Williamson’s return yet, but they have said that he will receive more scans within the next one to two weeks, meaning that it is possible that Zion could be back on the court for his season debut sometime around the first week or so of November. 

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With a new roster and other high-level talents around the Pelicans two All-Stars, this team definitely has high playoff aspirations this year and there is no reason why New Orleans cannot reach the playoffs, something they have not done since 2018. However, they are going to need Zion Williamson to be healthy in order to live up to their full potential. 

As of right now, his foot injury is not expected to be a long-term problem, but early on in his career, injuries have been a problem for Zion Williamson. It will be interesting to monitor his health throughout the course of the 2021-22 season.