New Orleans Pelicans ahead Zion Williamson pushes down the court docket in the course of the second half of an NBA basketball sport towards the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, in Oklahoma Metropolis. (AP Photograph/Kyle Phillips)
METAIRIE, Louisiana– The New Orleans Pelicans are doubling down on injury-plagued, sixth-year professional Zion Williamson, hoping he could be a extra dependable and productive centerpiece within the years to come back within the NBA.
If that wasn’t clear when the Pelicans (12-41) selected to commerce high-scoring wing Brandon Ingram to Toronto — and preserve Williamson — earlier than final week’s NBA commerce deadline, Pelicans basketball operations chief David Griffin left little question about it in his first assembly with reporters because the transfer on Tuesday.
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“When you take simply his physique of labor this yr, what he’s executed for us when he’s been wholesome, he’s taking steps every single day and he’s grown by leaps and bounds, each on the court docket and off,” Griffin mentioned. “The participant he’s now could be higher than he’s ever been.”
The potential for Williamson’s uncommon mixture of uncooked athletic means, explosiveness and measurement (listed at 6-foot-6, 284 kilos) to translate within the NBA has been evident since his first few video games on the court docket again in late January 2020 — after the primary of what has turn into a number of lengthy harm absences.
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This season, Williamson has averaged 23.9 factors, 7.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 17 video games. He’s additionally missed 36 video games, primarily due to a hamstring harm.
Key questions surrounding Williamson — who’s below contract for 3 extra seasons — have centered on his well being, maturity and even his dedication to his career. At occasions, he has struggled together with his weight and conditioning. Through the 2023 offseason, there have been unsavory and really public social media posts by a spurned romantic associate. This season, he was suspended one sport for being late for a group flight.
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Alongside the best way, Williamson, who’s slated to swimsuit up towards Sacramento on Wednesday evening, has missed 243 of 444 regular-season video games since being drafted first total out of Duke in 2019.
“Zion has handled a large number of challenges, a few of which have been type of his personal doing, fairly frankly,” Griffin mentioned. “And he would let you know that.”
However Griffin expressed confidence that the Williamson of the current and close to future — by way of maturity, reliability and availability — gained’t resemble the seemingly star-crossed participant he has been for many of the previous six seasons.
New Orleans Pelicans ahead Zion Williamson (1) battles for the ball with Sacramento Kings heart Jonas Valanciunas, left, and Jake LaRavia in the course of the second half of an NBA basketball sport in Sacramento, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photograph/Randall Benton)
“Folks mature at totally different charges within the league, and typically that maturity seems like a brushfire and typically it seems like a forest hearth,” Griffin mentioned. “I feel he’s reaching forest-fire standing now — and that’s thrilling.
“From a management perspective,” Griffin added, Williamson is “doing issues he’s by no means executed earlier than, and he’s far more vocal than he’s ever been. … He’s embracing the chance he has to grab this group.”
Griffin additionally defended the Pelicans’ medical group within the face of an unprecedented rash of accidents which have saved all 5 starters out for prolonged intervals.
“These items that occurred normally have been utterly flukish and unavoidable,” Griffin mentioned.
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Ingram (ankle) performed in simply 18 of 51 video games earlier than he was traded.
Prime defensive participant Herb Jones (shoulder) has performed in simply 20 video games this season and Griffin mentioned Tuesday he’ll most likely be “shut down for the season right here quickly.”
Dejounte Murray, a high offseason acquisition, missed a number of weeks after breaking his hand in his first sport with New Orleans. After he returned, he performed simply 30 extra video games earlier than an Achilles tear ended his season.
CJ McCollum, who missed 14 video games early this season due to an adductor harm, has regarded like a relative pillar of well being.
“It’s been nearly an unimaginable cascade impact of issues which have occurred to us this yr,” Griffin mentioned, noting that the Pelicans have had 29 totally different beginning lineups.
“We have to get higher simply by way of our means to construct a extra accessible roster,” Griffin mentioned. “Clearly, that’s one thing we’ve failed at thus far.”
Griffin mentioned the Pelicans harbored excessive hopes for Williamson and Ingram as a tandem. However Griffin famous that they performed simply 34% of their video games as Pelicans collectively in the course of the previous five-plus seasons — an untenable pattern for the 2 highest-paid gamers on the group.
“We reached some extent the place financially we weren’t going to have the ability to preserve the group collectively as we have been constructed,” Griffin mentioned.
The Ingram commerce introduced the Pelicans two established veterans in Bruce Brown and Kelly Olynyk, who might be relied upon to assist New Orleans’ comparatively younger roster mature professionally.
Whereas Brown’s contract is expiring and Olynyk has yet another season left on his, Griffin mentioned, “This isn’t seen as a short-term scenario with both participant in our minds.
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“We hope, because the season unfolds, they develop to really feel the identical about us,” Griffin mentioned.
