At the end of December 2022, things were very different for the Pelicans: With a positive record, they were one of the few teams to show some consistency in the Western Conference, which they came to lead, along with the Nuggets and Grizzlies. And his star, Zion Williamson, was averaging 26 points, 7 rebounds and 4.6 assists. It was all smiles until January 2, when the franchise player played his last game of the season. And it seems that it really is the last, since the latest information, leaked by Brian Windhorst (ESPN) indicate that there are many possibilities that the long-awaited return will not take place. A real disaster if we take into account that on July 1 they renewed him for 231 million dollars in five seasons, which is called to be the face of a small market and that they had bet everything to surround it with good accessories. To, in the end, be left with nothing.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen Zion in a situation like this. Number 1 in the 2019 draft, he played 24 games in his first season, 61 in his second, the only one in which he had any regularity; none in the third and 29 in this, the fourth, in which he may not return again. If that is true, he will have played only 114 matches out of a possible 308. Barely 37%, a very poor figure for a player who barely counts, let’s remember, at 22 years old, and who will turn 23 on July 6 with the well-deserved fame of glass man, a basketball player for whom injuries are the daily bread and not a mere conditioning factor. A star who has added a second selection this year for an All Star that he has not been able to play and that he has undeniable talent, but no type of continuity on the track. And that he has his entity waiting for a return that never comes and his colleagues trying to find a specific fit within a system that initially had him, but that has been left without his presence.
At Duke University, where Zion became known to the world, we already had the first episode of an injury that worried us: it was a sprained knee in a game against North Carolina, right at the beginning, which caused his stock value in Nike, a brand with which he already had a contract, to drop 1,100 million dollars in the market in just 24 hours. Beyond the well-known criticism of the NCAA for not paying players, there were several voices that asked Zion not to play anymore that season, since the number 1 in the draft was assured. The star complied and he was chosen by the Pelicans; 24 games allowed him to enter the Best Quintet of Rookies in his first season and the second, full of continuity, They raised him to the category of All Star with Stan Van Gundy bringing out the best of the player and the worst of the team. There were 27 points and more than 7 rebounds on average. Hope turned into a mere mirage.
This is how the Pelicans threw themselves last year, waiting for a player who didn’t say anything, a silent star who only filtered through his environment that he wanted to be in a bigger market (you know: Los Angeles, New York… ). The team, without his return already confirmed, signed CJ McCollum, turned to his young coach, Willie Green, and reached the playoffs for the first time since the days of Anthony Davis. They renewed Zion, with a foot fracture that lasted the entire season and that was the umpteenth chapter of the problems that drag in the lower body of his body. This was his year and it seemed so at the beginning of the course, with the power forward in tune with his teammate, dribbling time, minutes of center and the good vibes in everyone’s mouth. But just as it came, everything left. And Zion fell again.
The Neverending Story
It’s hard to expect anything from Zion beyond what we already know. The Pelicans go tenth in the Western Conference (33-36) after having come first, something as amazing as it is worrying. They can even be left out of the play-in, a clear and resounding step back after the success achieved last year. And all with the supreme silence of the star, of whom we have not heard anything until the month of March, with barely fifteen games to go before the regular season ends and confirms another practically blank year for a player who always shows qualities when he’s on the track, but he is absolutely incapable of staying healthy, of being regular, constant. To generate some kind of security to anyone, professional or amateur, regarding continuity. Not to get injured. Which is, ultimately, what always ends up happening to him.
Zion’s contract situation leaves the franchise tied hand and foot, especially if he spends so much time injured. Tied up to 2028, his constant health problems prevent certain movements to make the team competitive, also taking into account that the team wanted to be competitive with him. McCollum has a contract until 2026, when he will receive the total 133 million, but it is a piece that will begin to lose value in the market as he ages, which will reach almost 35 years when the contract ends. Brandon Ingram (also injured) has more than 100 million pending and is a potential star that never stops exploding and who plays better with or without Zion: his union with the Pelicans is signed until 2025. Between those two players and Zion there are more than 400 million in contracts. That is: little ability to move. Little margin to make transfers and pieces that are going to be difficult to transfer if those are the wishes of the franchise.
The rest are relatively small contracts that are easy to move, but without which they are going to be perceived enough to make the roster competitive considering, once again, Zion’s perennial situation. Jonas Valanciunas is a diamond in the rough, an extremely useful player who will earn 30 million (until 2024) and that he has left Willy Hernangómez and Jaxon Hayes, who are not to Willie Green’s taste, without a position in that position. And the rest, small contracts: José Alvarado (the fan favorite), Larry Nance (the other one who plays center, 31 million until 2025), Josh Richardson (a free agent in the summer after arriving in the February market from the Spurs), Kira Lewis, Trey Murphy… Many pieces, but little margin. Mainly, againby Zion Williamson.
What if the Pelicans trade Zion? The million-dollar question, with which it was already rumored last summer, before the million-dollar renewal arrived. It is the other move, the other option, the possible possibility… which, in reality, is almost impossible.. Mainly, because it is very difficult for any franchise to bet on a man who earns so much money and plays so few games, generates great insecurity and also has a very peculiar character, little commitment to his physique and weight problems, and few health care precisely to prevent that lower body that gives you so many problems from being permanently damaged. A star questioned, broken, always injured. A basketball player who generates tons of uncertainty. That’s Zion Williamson: all gibberish.
