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The Zion Williamson era of the New Orleans Pelicans appears to be coming to a close. And the new regime in New Orleans certainly hopes to be able begin the next era with another superstar from Duke: Cooper Flagg.
After another injury-riddled, disappointing season, the Pelicans fired executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin and replaced him with Louisiana native and former Detroit Pistons president Joe Dumars. While change is certainly needed — the Pelicans (formerly the Hornets) have won just two playoff series in 23 years — the exact path forward for Dumars in his new job is unclear.
Williamson is undoubtedly, when healthy, the team's best player and one of the toughest matchups for opposing NBA teams. However, Williamson has been decidedly unhealthy for most of his NBA career. In fact, he has missed 54 more regular-season games in his NBA career than he has played and has not been available for either of the postseason series New Orleans has played in since he was drafted first overall in 2019.
His troubling injury history, as well as reportedly poor health and lifestyle habits, have reportedly led the Pelicans to seriously consider moving on from Williamson this offseason. But if the team cannot land a suitable replacement, namely, projected No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, then they may decide to keep Williamson than face the unknown without him.
“Early word out of New Orleans is that Dumars wants to evaluate his new situation fully before deciding to outright shop Zion Williamson,” NBA reporters Marc Stein and Jake Fischer wrote for The Stein Line. “That said: Organizational exasperation with Williamson, as you can imagine, is plenty tangible after the former No. 1 overall pick failed for the fourth time in his six NBA seasons to surpass 30 games played.
“As such there is skepticism in some corners of the league that the Pelicans will actually persist with Williamson as their franchise centerpiece … especially if they are fortunate enough to come away with the No. 1 pick in the May draft lottery and the right to select Duke's Cooper Flagg.”
Flagg, unless he suffers a catastrophic injury between now and draft, will undoubtedly become the latest Duke product to go No. 1, joining the likes of Orlando Magic star Paolo Banchero, Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving, and Williamson.
Williamson made the choice clear for the Pelicans when they landed the first pick in the 2019 draft lottery. New Orleans, which has a 12.5% chance to select first in the 2025 draft, can only hope to have such an easy decision again.
