Unintended Consequences: Finding an Identity without Zion Williamson

As the NBA Preseason ends and we turn our attention to the start of the regular season, the elephant in the room needs to be discussed: What do the Pelicans do without Zion Williamson for the next few weeks?

Yes. We are gonna get a little uncomfortable here but we need to have this discussion. Zion Williamson will miss a few weeks with a knee injury.

That is a significant blow to the team looking to move into their post-Anthony Davis future with the 2019 number-one-overall Pick. It was going to be must-see TV on opening night! Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans versus the defending champion Toronto Raptors! But now it is going to be… The New Orleans Pelicans versus the Toronto Raptors. Huh. Not much of a difference? Well, it shouldn’t be.

If you watched the team play their final preseason game against the New York Knicks without Zion, you should have quite a bit of hope in terms of what the team is capable of without him. The only starter to not break double-digit points was Lonzo Ball( 9 points), but 7 of the 11 players who saw the court ended with 10+ points.

What does this mean for the long and short term plans for the season for the Pelicans? What does it mean from Zion? A lot is going to be made of the Pelican’s early-season slate because they’re missing their prodigal son.

None of this is Zion’s fault. Injuries happen to the best of them, most notably from last season was LeBron James‘ first major career injury and Kevin Durant during the playoffs and NBA Finals. Now with a 19-year-old rookie, the New Orleans Pelicans need to show some precaution and do right by him and the franchise.

When he blew out his shoe at Duke versus UNC, a lot of people in the media said he needs to not play and avoid injury but he said he’d still play for Duke because he loves the game and his teammates. Honorable and absolutely commendable, but in the NBA you don’t want to risk it becoming a normal injury and constantly in the back of your mind.

Young players have dealt with nagging injuries and are losing out on showing their full potential, players like Joel Embiid and Lonzo Ball. Now.

For the New Orleans Pelicans… What does Zion Williamson’s injury mean for the team?

A lot has been made about the identity of the New Orleans Pelicans surrounding Zion Williamson as the ‘main focus’ throughout the offseason and preseason.

Despite vice president David Griffin’s claims that the team runs through Jrue Holiday and it isn’t Williamson’s team, it was going to be Zion’s team.

Well, now we can see if what Griffin said tries to hold merit. No one in New Orleans is doubting Jrue Holiday’s leadership and value to the team, but with all the ugliness of the AD situation, everyone is looking directly to the future. And with such flare in college and the draft that Zion had brought LeBron James-level hype and expectations with him.

While rightfully and unrightfully so, we can actually finally temper expectations. Something we can discuss is leveling the expectations, not lowering them to something of a Phoenix Suns level. Without Zion Williamson in the lineup for the first few weeks, it gives us proper time to analyze just how well our former Lakers trio works in the Big Easy.

Playing in Los Angeles and especially for the Lakers brings a lot of expectations(and one individual’s loud father) that honestly some players aren’t equipped to handle at a young age or ever. Moving to a more relaxed environment in New Orleans compared to that of Los Angeles provides many new opportunities. And so far the trio has looked at home thus far.

Getting out of the spotlight and shadow of LA and LeBron will prove beneficial. A ball-handling point guard with great court vision running the backcourt with Jrue in Lonzo will keep the pace of play high.

But who else is going to get to shine? Well. The Pelicans have two other well-noted first-round rookies that will get more notice.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker continued his great Summer League performances with great preseason performances. While most of his time came in garbage time situations against opposing 3rd units, the start to his NBA career should have fans excited.

Look for Alexander-Walker to split time with Frank Jackson as mostly the third unit in garbage time. Jaxson Hayes, who had a solid Summer League, didn’t show out as much this preseason but he is also probably the rawest of the 3 first-rounders.

With Zion’s situation, look at Hayes possibly getting minutes late as a power forward behind lineups that feature Brandon Ingram and Nicolò Melli at the 4.

As mentioned earlier, if you saw the New York Knicks game, the team won’t have to be Zion reliant this season.

It’ll give him time to heal properly, which will be best, without the chance of it becoming a reoccurring issue. It gives the team time to get its bearings without the abnormally high expectations that were originally placed on the team when the opening night schedule was made.

Let the chemistry build and trust coach Alvin Gentry to get the job done with the team as it is currently constructed. We would all love to see Lonzo or Jrue toss the rock in the air to see Zion bring it down in a huge dunk over the defending champions.

I know a lot of us were looking forward to it. But if you ask any New Orleans Pelicans fan or staff member, they’d rather see a healthy Zion in the thick of the season for the long run instead of hit and miss appearances because of off-and-on injuries.

We all know that Zion wants to be out there with his teammates, as he did in Duke, but the wait will be well for it. Soon enough it’ll be time to dance. But in the meantime, let’s watch what our Pelicans will do to give him the best return possible.