The New Orleans Pelicans have had a busy offseason so far, recently drafting both Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen in the first round of the NBA Draft to try to kickstart their franchise. The Pelicans are coming off of a disastrous 2024-25 season in which they finished with the second worst record in the Western Conference, thanks in no small part due to injury.

While most teams may be able to chalk that up to an unlucky year, the injury concern is perpetually hanging over the Pelicans' heads due to the presence of Zion Williamson on their roster.

Williamson has missed more games than he has played so far in his five-year NBA career, and recently, former NBA All-Star point guard Jeff Teague made a grim prediction about Williamson's future.

“He isn’t going to ever play. Like Zion’s going to retire in two years. Bro, you think he’s going to play until he’s 30?” wondered Teague, via his Club 520 podcast.

Teague then clarified that he would give Williamson “four years max.”

Williamson has dealt with a wide array of injuries throughout his career but remains one of the game's most unique players when he is on the floor.

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A consequential season for the Pelicans

Jeremiah Fears selected by Pelicans
© Brad Penner-Imagn Images

In order to draft Derik Queen in the first round, newly minted Pelicans general manager and NBA Hall of Famer Joe Dumars traded away the team's right to swap picks with the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2026 draft, meaning that whoever has the more favorable of those two picks next year will see that selection be shipped to the Atlanta Hawks.

It was a hefty price to pay to draft Queen, whose fit next to Williamson would appear to be suspect on paper.

Teams generally don't trade unprotected first round picks unless they are quite confident that they will be a good team in the ensuing year, and it's unclear where that confidence is coming from for Dumars, as the Pelicans have several injury red flags on their roster and also will play at least part of the season without starting point guard Dejounte Murray.

Still, sometimes swinging for the fences can pay off.