NBA Rumors: Zion Williamson is getting healthier but it would still be surprising if he played for the New Orleans Pelicans this season.
Zion Williamson has not played in a game this season for the New Orleans Pelicans. After undergoing foot surgery during the offseason and then a setback during his recovery, it all but appeared that Zion is going to miss his entire third season.
However, a recent report suggests that perhaps that’s not a foregone conclusion.
According to a recent report, Zion is improving in his rehab and is taking steps forward to potentially returning to the floor. There’s just one big problem with that – it’s that the Pelicans don’t really have that much time to integrate Zion back.
Pelicans say Zion Williamson is showing improved bone healing in right foot and will gradually progress to full weight-bearing exercise and basketball activity.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 2, 2022
Nevertheless, this is absolutely great news and a huge development on the Zion front. However, it would still be extremely surprising if we saw Zion at all this season. There are roughly 20 games remaining in the regular season and even if they wanted to slowly ramp up his workload, it would make little sense considering the team is looking to make a push for the playoffs.
Zion is a great player but will need to be brought along slowly and could end up hurting the team’s current chemistry more than helping it – as strange as that may sound.
Still, it’s always good news when an injured player is making progress. That said, it would still be highly surprising if he played this season for the Pelicans. If that is indeed the case, it would make for an interesting offseason concerning Zion and the Pelicans.
Zion has missed more games than he’s played in so far through the first three years of his career and could be signed to a contract extension this offseason. From all indications, this is certainly a situation that nearly every other team in the league will be watching.