The New Orleans Pelicans have been erring on the side of caution with Zion Williamson throughout the first month of the 2023-24 NBA season. Williamson has been listed on the injury report with the (rest) designation in the first three back-to-back sets but those restrictions may be a thing of the past. Pelicans head coach Willie Green said before Friday's matchup against the San Antonio Spurs that the team expect Williamson to play on Saturday on the road against the Chicago Bulls.

“We expect Zion to play in Chicago,” Green shared before adding, “But, once again, you know things can happen so we want to make sure we leave space for that.”

Zion Williamson is averaging 24.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.1 steals in 31.9 minutes per game this season. The 2019 first-overall pick has been relatively healthy and being available for both games of a back-to-back set is a great sign the team is encouraged by his progress.

CJ McCollum has already been ruled out of the Chicago game. He is not even making the flight coming off of a collapsed lung issue. Having Williamson and possibly Trey Murphy III in the rotation against the 6-14 Bulls gives Green plenty of firepower to pull out a road win. The Pelicans are just 3-5 away from the Smoothie King Center, and the elimination game date in Sacramento is on Monday.

It's a boon to a team still treading water around .500 in the standings. Paired with the return of Trey Murphy III against the Spurs and McCollum's mission to be available for the NBA In-Season quarterfinals the Pelicans cannot complain with their presents so far during the holidays. New Orleans are a longshot to win but they have all the positive momentum needed to pull off a stunning run to an In-Season title.