It has been trending this way for a while for New Orleans Pelicans phenom Zion Williamson, but Shams Charania of The Athletic is now reporting that the young forward isn't expected to play at all this season as he continues to work his way back from foot surgery last offseason.
Williamson recently returned from Portland, where he was rehabbing his foot injury, and he has been gradually doing more work. Unfortunately, he's simply running out of time to make a return to the Pelicans this season. New Orleans only has 11 games left as the franchise chases the play-in tournament, and ramping up Williamson in time will be difficult.
This is especially true given just how tricky this rehab has been. Williamson and the Pelicans were initially hoping he would be ready at the start of this season, but the foot just didn't respond well enough, leading to setback after setback in his return time. He ultimately had to ease off a bit because the healing wasn't happening as expected.
While Zion is making better progress now, it appears to be too late. New Orleans still wants to be cautious with him, so throwing him back out there for high-leverage games in a playoff chase or in the actual playoffs probably isn't a great idea.
It's the unfortunate reality Williamson and the Pelicans find themselves in, though New Orleans has done a heck of a job to get back in the play-in picture after a dreadful start to the season. The trade for CJ McCollum has been huge, giving them another weapon offensively with Zion out.
Hopefully, Williamson can get healthy for next season so we can see this Pelicans group make a leap together.
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