The New Orleans Pelicans felt as though they struck gold when they landed the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. The opportunity to select viral sensation Zion Williamson was supposed to be the bridge to a new era after Anthony Davis forced his way out of town.
When he’s been on the court, Williamson has been highly impressive with one of the more unique skill-sets in all of the NBA. The main issue has been that it feels almost as though we’ve barely seen him actually play.
Williamson appeared in 24 games as a rookie offering a glimpse of what he can do at the highest level of basketball and averaged 22.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists while converting 58.3% of his field goal attempts. His incredible performance earned him All-Rookie First-Team honors despite playing such few games.
In his sophomore campaign, Williamson took his game to another level with averages of 27.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists with a staggering 61.1% field goal percentage. Since he played in 61 games, he was able to earn an All-Star appearance and was considered among the top snubs for an All-NBA spot.
LATEST NBA INJURY NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Zion Williamson May Need Second Surgery; Impact On Pelicans
After all of that excitement build up from Williamson’s 2020-21 campaign, a bizarre offseason has since derailed the situation. Williamson underwent surgery to repair a fractured foot and the Pelicans kept it secret from the fans until the Pelicans president of basketball operations David Griffin finally addressed it.
“Zion is returning from a foot surgery suffered at the beginning of summer — well, the beginning of summer isn’t exactly accurate, but earlier in the offseason prior to summer league,” Griffin said. “He had a fractured right foot that was repaired surgically. His timeline should get him on the court in time for the regular season. That would be our hope and our view.
“We’re very optimistic about what that looks like. Unfortunately, I know that’s going to be taken as a very big negative for all of you. It’s really not for us because we were dealing with it all offseason. We feel very confident about where things are.”
LATEST NBA INJURY NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Zion Williamson May Need Second Surgery; Impact On Pelicans
During his media day interview, Williamson stated “I expect to be back for the first game.”
Williamson went on to attribute his offseason foot injury to “overdoing it” in his training sessions. He was nonchalant about the impact of the surgery on his availability to play for the Pelicans during the season.
“It’s a part of the game,” Williamson said. “I think I was overdoing it when I was training because I felt like I had this huge chip on my shoulder — this huge boulder — that I was just getting after it overly every day. But the process through healing has been great. Been working with the team trainer every day, so it’s been good.”
LATEST NBA INJURY NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Zion Williamson May Need Second Surgery; Impact On Pelicans
Fast forward to today and Williamson isn’t even in the state of Louisiana on a regular basis. In fact, he’s been doing his training away from the team entirely in Portland. CJ McCollum, who was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans ahead of the Feb. 10 deadline, hasn’t even spoken to Williamson yet.
“I haven’t had conversations with him directly,” McCollum said. “I’ve spoken with some people close to him and look forward to sitting down with him sooner than later. I know about as much as you do right now, but I’m gonna get to the bottom of it.”
Even to this day, there isn’t a real timetable for Zion Williamson to make a return to the Pelicans’ lineup. In fact, there’s even been mention of the potential need for a second foot surgery. All there is to look forward to is more empty updates from David Griffin stating the team’s superstar is “ramping up” for what feels like the 20th time since the offseason.
LATEST NBA INJURY NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Zion Williamson May Need Second Surgery; Impact On Pelicans
In the meantime, the addition of CJ McCollum has already paid major dividends for the New Orleans Pelicans. He forms a nice one-two punch next to Brandon Ingram on the perimeter—giving the team a genuine starting place to building their roster, whether Zion Williamson is a part of it or not.
