The Pelicans were dealt another major setback on Tuesday, as Shams Charania reported that Zion Williamson will miss extended time with a right adductor injury. The All-Star forward is expected to be re-evaluated in three weeks, marking yet another interruption in a season already filled with stops and starts.
This latest injury comes less than a month after Williamson returned from a hamstring issue that sidelined him for just over two weeks. He appeared in five of New Orleans’ past seven games before suffering the strain, but this one is expected to keep him out much longer. With the Pelicans already navigating inconsistent play, losing their most explosive scorer only adds to the uncertainty, but it is not an unfamiliar feeling.
Since Williamson joined the league, he has struggled to stay healthy, playing sixty or more games in just two of his five seasons in the NBA. This season, he has played only ten games with averages of 22.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game on 51.0 percent shooting. This new injury will cost him the next three weeks, likely disqualifying him from awards and other NBA honors.
More importantly, it marks another setback for a team that is already drowning in losses. At 3-18, the Pelicans are dead last in the West and 5.5 games back from the tenth seed.
To have any hope of making the play-in, New Orleans will now lean even more heavily on Saddiq Bey, Derik Queen, and Jeremiah Fears to keep things afloat. The West continues to tighten by the week, and the Pelicans cannot afford to slide too far without their star. The next three weeks will determine how well they can weather another stretch without Williamson in the lineup, but it may not matter in the end.
After years of underachieving in New Orleans, things have seemingly reached a breaking point for Zion and the Pelicans, which is why rumors have been running rampant about potential trades for the former Duke star. With three years and 126 million dollars left on his contract, New Orleans may want to consider moving him now while his value is still relatively high.
If not, it puts incredible pressure on the organization to build a winning team around him before he can leave in free agency. At twenty-five years old, there is still time for Zion Williamson to find his place in the NBA, but he must first show the ability to stay healthy over the course of an eighty-two-game season.
This latest setback is a bad sign for his trajectory and further proof that he may need a fresh start to turn his career around. Ultimately, only time will tell how it plays out, but this season is already following the cycle of what has been a turbulent career for Zion.
Williamson’s talent has never been in question, but the Pelicans cannot move forward until they know they can count on him consistently. This latest injury only deepens the uncertainty around his future and the direction of the franchise. Whether New Orleans chooses to stay patient or explore bigger changes, the coming weeks will say a lot about where this partnership is headed.
