Pelicans face MASSIVE setback as Zion Williamson “not close” to returning as per NBA Insider

The New Orleans Pelicans are looking down a hole of despair as Zion Williamson is still a long while away from returning to an NBA court


Pelicans face MASSIVE setback as Zion Williamson “not close” to returning as per NBA Insider

Zion Williamson

Zion Williamson was performing at an all-star level before his injury and according to reports his return is nowhere near. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported, “I think his setback was significant,” and continued to say that he is not close to returning in a New Orleans Pelicans uniform this season. The New Orleans Pelicans have a 14-22 record without Zion this season and some fans are getting impatient with his return.

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NBA fans on Twitter are starting to question whether Zion Williamson could be a bust. When he is on the floor he instantly makes his team better as the Pelicans are 17-12 with him this season. He has broken records and has a dominant play style but just fails to stay fit for a full season. In Zion’s three NBA seasons so far he has only played over 30 games once.

Zion however was an all-star in the year he played 61 games and averaged 27 points per game. He has shown us what he can be and along with greatness, there is certainly room for improvement. This improvement would have been much more rapid if it weren’t for his fitness. The Pelicans star was very publicly called out for putting on weight during his foot injury but did get fit again before this season only to get injured again. Zion’s fitness is a slippery slope and the Pelicans might not want to hold on for much longer.

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The New Orleans Pelicans are in a 4 horse race for the play-in tournament without Zion Williamson

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The New Orleans Pelicans (Source: Twitter)

The New Orleans Pelicans were in the top 4 seeds in the Western Conference at one point of this season and now they find themselves in 10th place. The Pelicans are tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland Trailblazers with the same record. They sit just 0.5 games ahead of the Utah Jazz at the 13 seed. However, if fans are optimistic the Pelicans are just 2.5 games behind the 5th seed in this historically tight conference.

The Pelicans have won only 3 of their last 10 games so the fans do not have much to hope for. Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum are trying their best but without Zion, this team is barely a play-in team. Last season without Zion they pushed the Phoenix Suns to 6 games in the first round of the playoffs despite being the 8 seed. The Pelicans have won only 2 of their last 13 road games without Zion Williamson which highlights how dependent they are on their star.

Zion Williamson will hope he can make it back in time for a potential playoff run if the Pelicans pull off upsets during the play-ins but neither outcome is looking possible at the moment. With the Pelicans’ horrible run of form and Zion’s negative injury update the Pelicans might just have to look forward to next season. They have shown the NBA what they can be with all the pieces together but the glue always seems to run out in New Orleans.

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