I hate having to write this article, but it’s the truth. With Zion Williamson all but certainly going to miss yet another season due to injury, the Pelicans really need to seriously consider moving on from the former #1 overall pick.
Like I said, I hate that I have to write this article, but it’s impossible to look at Williamson’s situation and not come to the same conclusion.
Despite being only 22 years old and in the developmental stages of his professional career, Zion Williamson has already missed over 200 Pelicans games (202 to be exact) in the four years he’s been in New Orleans due to 16 nagging, repetitive, and reaccusing ankle, knee, foot, and conditioning issues/injuries.
In fact, Williamson has nearly missed double the Pelicans games played since his drafting (202) than he’s actually played in (114), which just shows how brittle his body has held up in the NBA.
Normally, I’d implore teams to give injury prone players like Williamson a few more years (two at most) to recover/improve as their talent and generational potential is just too promising to pass up on. And most teams would agree with me as the Warriors found themselves in a very similar situation as the Pelicans back in the early 2010’s with a young, injury-prone Steph Curry.
The all-time great point guard suffered from serious ankle injuries during his first 4 years in the NBA which forced him to undergo two evasive ankle injuries (which did end up working) and Golden State to seriously doubt the longevity of his career.
Yet, unlike Zion Williamson, Curry was able to play the vast majority (79%) of the Warriors’ games in said span (he played in 258 of the Warriors 328 games between his rookie year in 2009 and his second surgery in 2012) and had a massive impact on the court as the Warriors dynasty was getting started, while Williamson has managed to play in just 35% of the Pelicans games between his draft year of 2019 and this current season of 2022/23 and his Pelicans are looking at another year outside the playoffs.
Sure, one can point out how the Warriors also missed the playoffs in Curry’s first four years with the team just like how the Pelicans are projected to miss the playoffs in the three seasons Williamson played at least one game, but the circumstances around each team are vastly different.
The Warriors in 2009-2012 were in the process of building the NBA’s greatest dynasty of the 2010’s and early 2020’s as Steph Curry (drafted 7th overall in 2009), Klay Thompson (drafted 11th overall in 2011), Harrison Barnes (drafted 7th overall in 2012), and Draymond Green (drafted 35th overall in 2012), all players a part of the team who won the Warriors dynasty’s first championship in 2015, were drafted in this timeframe.
What have the Pelicans done since they drafted Zion Williamson with the 1st overall pick in 2019?
Well, having already traded Anthony Davis a few months prior to the 2019 draft to the Lakers for Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball (no longer on the team), Josh Hart (no longer on the team), 2019 4th overall pick (traded away to Atlanta), 2022 1st round pick (selected Dyson Daniels), 1st round pick swap rights in 2023, and a 2024 1st round pick, the Pelicans acquired veterans Jonas Valanciunas (29 at time of trade) and CJ McCollum (30 at time of trade).
These are “win-now” moves that have essentially blown up in the Pelicans management’s faces as they only have a 2022 First Round exit to the Phoenix Suns (4-2 loss) to show for the four years of Williamson’s tenure. It’s slightly better than what the Warriors achieved during Curry’s first four years in terms of on-court success, but woefully incomparable when looking at the two franchise superstars’ involvement and roster building.
The Warriors built a team that could compete for 10+ years, while the Pelicans have assembled a team for the next 4-5 years.
So, seeing how Williamson is likely to miss at least the rest of March (if not the remaining regular season games) and the Pelicans find themselves in 12th place on a 34-37 record, I’d seriously consider rebooting the franchise around a new generational talent.
Perhaps the Pelicans can ship Williamson and some of their 1st round assets from the AD trade to get into the Top-3 picks of this year’s draft, or they can hollow out parts of the core of the team (Williamson, Valanciunas, McCollum, Ingram, etc.) for high-end picks in 2024 or 2025.
They just need to get a grip on this Williamson situation quickly or else their NBA Championship hopes are dead in the water.
Images Source: Featured Image:
