Ricky Dimon
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Zion Williamson began the preseason injury free, scheduled to make his NBA debut on opening night. Then the No. 1 overall pick of the New Orleans Pelicans got hurt and was supposed to miss eight weeks. Eventually he was feared to be shut down for the entire season due to that injury. Now he is back at practice and aiming to return at some point in 2019-20.
Without having stepped on the floor for a regular-season game as a professional, it has been a roller-coaster ride for Williamson. Will he come back or won’t he? How bad is he hurt? Is it a chronic problem or acute? Does he weigh too much? Even if healthy, should his team rest him with an eye toward 2020-21? Are the Pelicans out of it?
Second-to-last in the West
That last question is a tough one. The bad news for New Orleans is that it is saddled with an 11-23 record through 34 games. Only the similarly doomed Warriors (also because of injuries) are worse in the Western Conference. For those counting, that means the Pelicans would have to pass at least six teams ahead of them in the standings to make the playoffs.
There is, however, some good news. Despite its position on the NBA table, New Orleans is a mere 3.5 games out of postseason position. With so much traffic at the two extremes of the standings, there are very fewer middle-of-the-road teams. A whopping 12 clubs currently boast winning percentages better than .600, including Milwaukee (31-5), the Lakers (27-7), Boston (23-8), and Miami (25-9). Not coincidentally, an alarming 13 squads are saddled with winning percentages under .400. Among them are Atlanta (7-27), Golden State (9-27), and—in addition to the Hawks—three other Eastern Conference representatives who are worse than the Pelicans.
In other words, you don’t have to be good to be in the playoffs. You just have to be close to mediocre. At 14-19, San Antonio occupies the eighth and final spot in the West. By no means is that out of reach for New Orleans.
When is the time?
Of course, a playoff push would be boosted immensely by Williamson’s return. When could that be? The former Duke star remains out indefinitely, but he went through his first full practice since mid-October earlier this week.
“If it was up to me, I would’ve been out there two weeks ago or something,” Williamson said.
“I know that’s typical, but we really do have to take it a day at a time to see what kind of progress he makes,” head coach Alvin Gentry explained. “(We’ll) see what happens after he goes through practices and things like that. Like we said and will continue to say, he’ll play when the time is right for him to do that. When that is, I’m not real sure of. But I know he’s making progress, that’s the thing that matters most.”
For now, Gentry continues to rely on the likes of Brandon Ingram, Jrue Holiday, J.J. Redick, Lonzo Ball, and others as they prepare for a back-to-back situation against the Lakers and Kings on Friday and Saturday (check out our free NBA expert picks).
That current group may be good enough. But if that’s the case, it’s not because the Pelicans are good but because so many other teams are bad.
