What's Going On With Zion Williamson?
Zion Williamson was the most touted college prospect in years when he was selected with first overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Pelicans.
He was a superstar at Duke, and helped lead them to the Elite 8, and then in his second season in the NBA (last year) was an NBA All-Star.
However, the franchise cornerstone has yet to play in a game this season due to recovering from foot surgery.
On Thursday, the Pelicans provided an update on Williamson and the update can be seen in a tweet that is embedded below from the team.
He will be out for at least the next four-six weeks.
On December 11, The Athletic's Shams Chariana and Will Guillory reported that he is being shut down from basketball activities due to soreness in that foot.
ESPN's Andrew Lopez also reported about Williamson's status on that same day.
What to make of the Zion situation?
The Pelicans are one of the worst teams in all of basketball with a 10-21 record in 31 games, and even last year with Williamson they did not make the playoffs and Stan Van Gundy was fired after just one season on the job.
Nothing has seemed to go right.
Now, the situation with Williamson being injured is not necessarily anyones fault, but the way things have gone in terms of his recovery simply do not appear promising.
This is also the same franchise that had another star big man in Anthony Davis who was drafted with the first overall pick in 2010, and forced his way out by demanding a trade.
At this point in the season, there is likely no chance that the Pelicans would make the playoffs in a deep Western Conference even if he were to come back.
There is not really any reason to play the 21-year-old this season even if he is healthy enough at some point.
The question is soon going to turn to his upcoming free agency.
He will be a restricted free agent at the end of the 2022-23 season, and the only way he could get to unrestricted free agency would be to play for the qualifying offer in 2023-24, which is just under $17.6 million, according to Spotrac.
That's a large amount of money for one season, and he has already made plenty of money with endorsements, so it could definitely be an option.
However, that never happens where a player of his caliber does that, and he has an injury history.
Right now, the most important thing is for him to get healthy for the next season, and for the Pelicans to build a roster this off-season that will compliment their star, because the clock is ticking.
