Zion Williamson

The question hanging over Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans has likely been answered, and now the team can move on.

This also isn’t official, as this didn’t come from the team but from one of Shams’ sources, so until we get something official from Zion or the team, this is just speculation. This news is not surprising, as Zion has suffered myriad setbacks that make a return unlikely in the best-case scenarios. According to Shams Charania of the Athletic, Zion is unlikely to play at all this season.

There has been no shortage of storylines for Duke men's basketball alums in the NBA in the past couple weeks, so the Blue Zone takes a look at how former ...

Sunday, Carter, making his return from an ankle injury, notched a career-high 30 points against the Oklahoma City Thunder on 12-of-15 shooting, including 10 clutch points in the fourth quarter to help the Magic win 90-85. Carter was traded from the Chicago Bulls to the Orlando Magic midway through last season, making this season his first full-length one with the Magic. Given that Orlando has several promising young big men, it says a lot that Carter has been such a reliable starter for it. That is the most points scored in a half in NBA league history since Kobe Bryant scored 42 for the Lakers in 2003. Irving was incredibly efficient right out the gate, going 14-for-19 from the field and 6-for-7 from three in the first half, finishing with 64.5% and 66.7% marks from the field and distance, respectively. Pelicans and Duke fans will have to wait through the summer to see Zion back inaction. However, he showed no sign of that in Orlando, dropping 41 points in the first half.

Zion Williamson, who hasn't been cleared by the Pelicans to do much on-court work as he recovers from a fractured right foot, posted a five-second clip ...

Since back, he hasn't been cleared by the team to do much on-court work. In January, he temporarily left the team to continue his rehab in Portland before returning at the start of this month. He was close to making a return in December and was set to undergo his first practice with the team Dec. 2, but instead, the Pelicans held him out and announced he was dialing back his progression to 5-on-5 work.

Injured New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson posted a crazy dunk video on his Instagram story Tuesday evening.

Zion suffered a broken foot injury during an offseason workout before the 2021-22 season. Hopefully this clip means Zion will be back at full health for the 2022-23 season. He returned to rehab with the team earlier this month, but this positive step apparently didn’t indicate a quick comeback.

The handshakes New Orleans Pelicans players exchange with each other shortly before tipoff of every game are an intricate ritual.

New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum (3) watches his first three pointer go in as Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) looks on at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022. New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum (3) watches his first three pointer go in as Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) looks on at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022.

Herb Jones isn't making anyone in New Orleans forget who is missing, but the promising do-it-all rookie has shined in his star teammate's absence, ...

Jones sees a few steps ahead as the play develops, a trait that suggests a high basketball IQ. Combined with his athleticism and patience, the rookie pounces on the ball just at the right time—allowing him to register blocks and steals seemingly with ease. One of his main pitfalls as a rookie: Jones often falls into foul trouble, ranking sixth in the league with 214 personal fouls. Following the key four-point swing, the Pelicans outscored the Lakers 89-62—leading to a much-needed 28-point victory for New Orleans and its play-in tournament hopes. Mitchell ended the night with 14 points, his second-lowest tally of the season—and later caught Green in the hallway to admit the Pelicans freshman was “one of the few rookies he has to plan for.” And when he stands in their way, he guards the hell out of them. His 108 steals places him tied for fourth with Chris Paul and Marcus Smart among the best pick-pockets of the 2021-22 season, per Basketball-Reference. Just seven other players have made a bigger contribution to their teams’ victories by stripping the ball off of opponents than the Pelicans forward. With Vinson, Jones has worked to alter both his technique and the thought process behind the act of shooting—and it’s already yielded promising results. Jones has quickly made himself useful with the same havoc-wreaking defense he showcased at Alabama. In college, he terrorized his peers on the defensive side—and sometimes even his teammates. Willie Green’s takeover as head coach, on the heels of his NBA Finals run as an assistant with the Phoenix Suns, brought a fresh vision to the team, and with it came excitement ahead of the new campaign. It’s everything else he does,” said Willy Hernángomez after Jones held Donovan Mitchell to just 1-for-7 from the field on shots when he was the closest defender in a 34-point victory over the Utah Jazz earlier this month. That includes rookie Herb Jones, who would quickly become one of the few bright spots on the team—and a glimmer of hope for both the short and long-term future. Yet the moment Zion—the Sun of the Pelicans’ basketball universe, as The Ringer’s Dan Devine put it—went down with a foot injury, a familiar feeling started to gather over New Orleans again.

CJ McCollum has given the Pelicans a consistent scoring presence since being acquired at last month's trade deadline, but his value to the team goes far ...

He should be a top-four defenseman for BC next season and could be in the mix for the U.S. world junior team. He’s been a little inconsistent the last few years, but there’s a lot to like about the way he plays and the energy he brings to the table on top of good skill. Inamoto is a physical shot-blocking defenseman who never got out of the single digits in points in any of his five years with the Badgers. He can become a free agent this summer. He hasn’t found the scoring touch as much with Tampa through 53 games this season, but he already has a goal and an assist in his first two games with the Blackhawks. A former second-round pick, Raddysh is 24 and should provide some scoring depth for Chicago. Boris Katchouk, LW, Chicago Blackhawks Another piece in the Hagel trade, Katchouk is looking more and more like he’ll just be a depth player and perhaps not an everyday NHLer. He appeared in 38 games with Tampa this year and had six points. Perhaps there’s a clearer path for him to play in Ottawa and he’s still only 24 years old, but it’s getting harder to see him as an NHL player in the long term. Taylor Raddysh, RW, Chicago Blackhawks Part of the package in the large Brandon Hagel deal earlier in the week, Raddysh is reunited with Erie Otters teammates Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome. Raddysh is not so much a prospect as he is a young player with some upside left to mine. He had a .918 mark in Hockey Allsvenskan last season and was part of the last two Swedish world junior teams. However, he would be eligible to be a free agent as early as this summer and would be able to pick his spot. The former Cornell captain has been a pro the last two years, playing primarily in the AHL, and appeared in 18 NHL games over the last two seasons. The Coyotes should have a spot for him as soon as his collegiate season is over and if they can convince him to forgo free agency, they could have themselves a promising two-way center with high-end puck skills. Smith also was part of the U. S. Olympic Team in Beijing as one of the many collegians invited to play for Team USA. He was drafted 91st overall in the third round in 2018, and it looked like the Jets had mined a gem as Smith’s development has really taken off. An A prospect is an impact player as an NHLer (i.e., surefire top-six, top-four, potential all-star type player), a B prospect is a projected everyday NHLer and a C prospect is a player who has a chance to be an NHL regular.

New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson will likely miss the entirety of his third season in the NBA after breaking his foot last summer.

Given his size and the soaring nature of his game, it’s difficult not to wonder at this point if he’ll ever be able to stay healthy and on the court. And through the first 20 games of his career, he scored the most points by a player in the NBA in their first 20 games since one Michael Jordan. He didn’t stop at 20 games, either. A broken finger kept him out the final two weeks. Out of the 61 games Zion played in 2020-21, he scored 20 or more points an astounding 54 times! On NBA Media Day back on September 27, 2021, it was first announced that Zion Williamson had broken his right foot over the summer and undergone subsequent surgery. But it’s a huge bummer nevertheless to see the 2021-22 NBA season completely robbed of one of its premiere signature young talents.

Shams Charania of the New Orleans Pelicans said, Zion Williamson is not likely to return this season due to a foot ailment. According to an NBA insider,

A former five-star recruit out of Spartanburg (S. C.), Williamson was the No. 5 player, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, from the Class of 2018. And he played in 61 games last year, logging 33.2 minutes per contest and averaging 27.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 61.1% from the floor. He has been doing so away from the team and under the watch of the Pelicans’ medical staff. This season, the Pelicans are 30-41 and in ninth place in the Western Conference. “I know there’s work to be done in my recovery before I can safely return to the court, but I will continue to put in the time necessary so I can get back on the floor with my team and represent Pelicans fans and the city of New Orleans at the highest level. According to an NBA insider, Williamson is making progress in his return to the court.

When Zion Williamson's initial foot injury was first disclosed in the offseason, Pelicans president David Griffin promised that “his timeline should bring.

It won’t be this season, but things are looking up a bit in New Orleans. Doing so without Williamson would be a meaningful achievement, but the team has a long way to go if it plans to build a sustainable contender around him. Williamson initially had surgery to repair a fractured right foot in the offseason, but his recovery process has not gone as planned.

After a 1-12 start, New Orleans is in position for a Play-In Tournament bid; what does the future look like for the young team?