The New Orleans Pelicans have seemingly turned a corner since enduring a five-game losing streak earlier in the month. An impressive 115-10 home victory against the Denver Nuggets on Friday marked their fourth win in five contests. Unsurprisingly, Zion Williamson was a major part of that success (26 points, 10-of-17).

Also unsurprisingly, he will not be playing in the second game of a back-to-back on Saturday. Williamson is being given a rest day ahead of the Pels' matchup with the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves, per the team.

Precautions are bound to be taken with the franchise pillar, as he has played in just 39 games since the start of the 2021-22 season and 124 total since being drafted No. 1 overall in 2019. At 6-6, however, the Pelicans could use all the star power they can muster on a nightly basis.

Pelicans are clearly focused on the big picture with Zion Williamson

Pelicans' Zion Williamson is still having his workload managed

Balancing the long-term goal of having a healthy Zion Williamson in the playoffs and actually winning enough to make the playoffs is going to be a taxing challenge this organization will navigate all season. He has played in 10 games in 2023 thus far and is averaging 21.8 points on 52.4 percent shooting with 6.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. That is not quite the All-Star level production he posted in the first half of last season, but head coach Willie Green is going to exercise some added patience.

The question is, however, do the fans have enough to accept such concessions? They know how important consistency and chemistry are to New Orleans reaching its full potential. Luckily, Jose Alvarado could be making his season debut versus Minnesota after dealing with an ankle injury.

The Pelicans will need a strong effort to overcome the 8-3 Timberwolves Saturday at the Smoothie King Center. It will be another week before they run into another back-to-back situation, but hopefully this rest day gives Williamson an extra boost.