The New Orleans Pelicans would possibly have a handful of video games left withinside the 2024-25 NBA season, however Zion Williamson is formally completed for the year. The statement got here after he become dominated out of 3 directly video games with a decrease returned bruise.
All in all, Zion prepare a quite sturdy campaign, notwithstanding the Pelicans’ typical struggles as a team. For the year, he averaged 24.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.three assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.nine blocks whilst taking pictures 56.7 percentage from the field. Those are a few exceedingly pleasing numbers, in particular thinking about his confined gambling time this season, as his 28.6 mins in line with recreation had been the bottom for the reason that his rookie year.
Had he averaged extra gambling time this season, who is aware of how astronomically his output may want to have climbed. Had he hit the 65-recreation requirement, he genuinely could have had a critical case for his first All-NBA selection, even at simply 28 mins a night. He fell nicely brief of that, though — so brief that his shutdown had no impact on him enjoyable the prerequisite. However, the Pelicans shutting Zion down for the relaxation of the season may want to bring about a few unexpected outcomes that’ll have an effect on them withinside the lengthy run.
Zion’s shutdown will not help his perception or his trade value
Zion Williamson may have had an injury listed for his shutdown, but let’s not get it twisted. Big Z was absolutely healthy enough to play and would have suited up had the Pelicans had anything left to play for this season. Instead, New Orleans is actively trying to lose, which is why they ruled out both Zion and CJ McCollum for the last couple of weeks. Rolling them out in these remaining games would have only been risking their health and making it harder for the Pelicans to maximize their lottery odds for the NBA Draft.
