It’s become abundantly clear that Zion Williamson can’t be viewed as a franchise cornerstone for the New Orleans Pelicans.
When Zion Williamson entered the 2019 NBA Draft, the one big concern surrounding him revived around his future durability. He was a unique athlete with unprecedented size and skill but one with a bit of an injury history. And coming into the league, that was the biggest question about Zion.
It wasn’t whether Zion could play at the next level. I believe most thought he would be able to excel and dominate due to his measurables and skill. It was more about whether his body would be able to handle the NBA rigors. And while we don’t know for sure if it’s his body not being able to hold up or not, it’s pretty clear that the injury concerns have certainly changed the perception of Zion as an NBA player.
Or, at least it should.
Zion is a great player, but it’s become quite clear through his first four years in the NBA that he should not be viewed as a franchise cornerstone for the New Orleans Pelicans. Zion has only played in 29 games this season and there’s a very real chance that he may be shut down for the remainder of the season.
The latest regarding Zion’s recent rehab is that he’ll be reevaluated in two weeks. But, at that point, with only 2-3 weeks remaining in the regular season, it wouldn’t make that much sense to bring him back.
But his injury history stretches well beyond this season.
Zion’s concerning injury history
Zion Williamson’s NBA career got off to a rocky start. Zion only played 24 games during his rookie season after missing the start of the season due to a knee injury. During his sophomore season, he was relatively healthy and played in 61 games. However, Zion would go on to miss his entire third season due to a foot injury.
The hope was that he would rebound this season and begin to shake the injury concerns off. That didn’t exactly happen as he’s once again projected to miss the majority of the season, this time with a hamstring injury. Even if Zion does manage to return for the final couple of weeks of the regular season, there are still big questions that need to be answered both by the team and Zion.
And the difficult part in all this is that Zion is a really good player. When he’s healthy, he’s one of the most dominating players in the NBA. The problem is, he hasn’t been healthy enough where he can truly make an impact in the league.
At this point, through four seasons, it’s impossible to say that Zion will be healthy for any extended period of time. You simply can’t say that or project that. So that’s where it becomes difficult when trying to build around someone as your franchise player.
Zion’s injury history should change how the Pelicans approach the offseason
Heading into the offseason, you can’t help but feel as if the New Orleans Pelicans’ approach should change. After another season of Zion proving that he can’t remain healthy, the team must evolve. If the team was beginning to build around Zion before, it’s not something that can continue to happen moving forward.
For as good as Zion is, there’s simply a better probability that he’s going to suffer another significant injury before he gets to a place where you feel comfortable with him being healthy. While you should never root for an injury to a player, you also can’t ignore the simple fact that Zion is, unfortunately, an injury-prone star that may never reach his ceiling.
Zion is averaging less than 30 games played per season throughout the first four years of his career. Not great.
So the Pelicans need to find their cornerstone and it can’t be Zion. You can have an argument about whether that is Brandon Ingram or if he’s going to continue to be a strong No. 2. The Pelicans can’t continue to build around Zion. It will only lead to further disappointment.