The New Orleans Pelicans may have a roster littered with talent but there may be one big problem with their team-building philosophy.
At 4-18, the New Orleans Pelicans have the worst record in the Western Conference and will have a huge hole to climb out of if they want any shot to make the postseason this season. Injuries have completely derailed the team's season and still without the heart and soul of the team, Zion Williamson, it's hard to envision the Pelicans changing the trajectory of their season until they're back at full strength.
Of course, the big question is, when will that happen? It's impossible to predict. Just a few days ago, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that Zion wasn't "close" to a return. At the very least, Zion is slated to miss the next two weeks. But the argument can be made that despite the other injuries that the Pelicans have had to endure, it's Zion's that has hurt the team the most.
Since he entered the league, the Pelicans are 101-89 with Zion in the lineup. Without him, the Pelicans are 91-131. It's clear that the Pelicans are a better team when Zion plays. The problem is, he's missed more games throughout his career than he's played in. And I'd argue that has been the biggest problem as the Pelicans look to build a contender.
The New Orleans Pelicans have a big decision to make
The Pelicans can blame the injuries all they want but the cruel reality is that they may be building around the wrong star. If New Orleans' entire foundation is built on the most injury-prone star in the NBA, they can't be surprised when he's injured. As the team continues down this path with Zion, it's hard to imagine anything drastically changing. And at least for now, the Pelicans want to continue to build around Zion. I'm not sure if that will work.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That's some of what is at play for the Pelicans. They continue to build around an injury-prone star and expect him not to get injured. If there's one certainty about Zion, it's that he's going to deal with at least some injury troubles every year. That's become an unfortunate reality for him.
In theory, the Pelicans' biggest problem may not be the fact that they can't catch a break on the injury front. That's certainly not ideal. However, their biggest problem when it comes to their team build is probably more of a flawed foundation of their franchise. The star player the team has chosen to build around isn't reliable or durable. And that's a big problem. Either Zion has to suddenly get the gift of durability and health or the Pelicans must pivot away at some point in the near future.