New Orleans Pelicans
Marquee player who needs a fresh start: Zion Williamson
At this point, maybe the New Orleans Pelicans are cursed. Just kidding. I think. Nevertheless, because of the continued injury issues that he's faced through the first few years of his career, you can't help but wonder if it may be time for a change of scenery. Considering that it's already been reported that the Pelicans may be open to trading Zion, it wouldn't be that surprising. However, I have a hard time imagining a team willing to trade for Zion considering he's currently injured with a clear timeline of a return.
When healthy, Zion has proven he can be a great player and perhaps a new face for the league. However, he's been injured a lot more than he's been healthy through the first few years of his career and that's a huge problem. Maybe a fresh start will help him as he looks to shake off these troubling first few years of his career. At this point, the Pelicans may not be all that opposed to the idea of it either.
New York Knicks
Marquee player who needs a fresh start: Precious Achiuwa
Even though the New York Knicks have begun to play better over the last few weeks as they continue to get more comfortable with their new roster, there are still plenty of questions about this team's frontcourt. Aside from Karl-Anthony Towns, the Knicks don't have much depth. The hope was that Precious Achiuwa could be part of those answers. However, between the injuries and his inconsistent play, it's safe to say that he's left a bit to be desired as a backup behind the starting frontcourt.
Precious has just played in six games this season and has played in less than 20 minutes in all of those contests except two. The Knicks are clearly still figuring out their rotation outside of KAT in the frontcourt but Precious hasn't had the season that perhaps he hoped he would after re-signing with the team. Maybe during the second half of the season that begins to change but if it doesn't, he could be a player that may be better off with a fresh start during the 2025 calendar year.