Zion Williamson could already be on his way to becoming a huge ‘What if?’ in terms of his NBA career as injury news regarding the young Pelicans superstar continues to get worse. Zion hasn’t featured at all in the 2021-22 regular season so far as the 21-year-old continues to rehab from a broken bone in his right foot.
Even though he was initially expected back in time for the regular season, the Pelicans informed everyone that Zion’s recovery process had seen some setbacks and would take further time to complete. Williamson was asked to engage in only partial load-bearing activities in January, with no date on his timeline for a return. And now, according to Nola.com’s Christian Clark, Zion might have to undergo another surgery on his right foot.
Zion Williamson could require a second surgery on his right foot, per Christian Clark pic.twitter.com/eiJ1yk4xOR
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 16, 2022
Zion released a statement in January reaffirming his commitment to the recovery process and the fans in New Orleans, promising that he would return to the court as soon as he can. However, if another surgery on his foot is required, the potential recovery time would likely see Zion miss the rest of this regular season at the very least. The Pelicans might still make the playoffs but there is no guarantee that they would be able to feature their young superstar even if they did.
The Pelicans haven’t fared too well without the prolific Williamson, who averaged 27.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game in 2020-21. Zion was an All-Star last season but was unable to build on that season, thanks to the injury that currently has him sidelined.
New Orleans lost to the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night, who are led by the man picked No. 2 behind Zion in Ja Morant. The Pelicans had tried to get the second pick in the draft to also bring Morant to New Orleans but the Grizzlies rejected them and are now reaping the benefits as Morant continues to perform at an All-NBA level. The play-in spots are within The Pels’ sights though, and a run powered by new acquisition CJ McCollum could give Zion just enough time to come back healthy and maybe make an impact.
