Will Zion Williamson Return For New Orleans Pelicans This Season?
Since being drafted first overall in 2019, Zion Williamson has played in just 114 games for the New Orleans Pelicans.
Williamson never seems to be healthy and after having a very strong start to the 2022-23 season, the young All-Star once again was forced to miss time with a hamstring injury.
An injury that many thought would keep Zion sidelined for a month or so has quickly turned into a three-month hiatus and now his status for the remainder of the season is in doubt.
Recently appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, NBA insider Shams Charania from The Athletic talked about Williamson working his way back to on-court activities and whether or not the Pelicans star would be returning this season.
"Zion Williamson played in some low intensity 3-on-3 the other day. He played with some coaches so he’s back on the court," Charania said. "He’s getting some scrimmage work in, some low intensity 3-on-3 from what I’m told. They’re going to re-evaluate him at some point this week. We’ll see. Will he be able to come back with 1 or 2 games left on the regular season? If he can’t do it, they’ll just throw him out there in a play-in tournament game."
Charania also explained that the team is gong to be cautious with Zion's injury and they will not bring him back until he is good condition wise.
Playing in 29 games earlier this season, Zion Williamson averaged 26.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game while shooting 60.8 percent from the floor.
Getting a player of his caliber back for a potential postseason run would be huge for the Pelicans, especially since they were one of the better teams in the league earlier this season with Williamson on the court.
In the midst of the final week of the regular season, the Pelicans are 40-38, tied in the loss column with the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers in the middle of the Western Conference standings.
The Pelicans still have a chance to earn an outright playoff spot and not have to fight for one in the Play-In Tournament, which is why every game matters for them this week.
So will Zion Williamson return for the Pelicans this year and could we see him in the postseason?
At this point, it is unlikely that Zion plays in any regular season games this week, but there is certainly a chance that the young All-Star will return in the postseason for New Orleans. Whether or not he will face a minutes restriction is a whole separate conversation.
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