New Orleans Pelicans: 3 Reasons to be Worried about Zion Williamson

The New Orleans Pelicans have to be concerned about Zion Williamson.

Zion Williamson would be the first to admit that his rookie season with the New Orleans Pelicans didn’t go as planned.

There has been plenty to get excited about, as Zion has been transcendent at times and looked like a generational talent who could become the next face of the NBA.

The future is bright for the New Orleans Pelicans and Zion Williamson is the sun in that universe.

Pelicans’ fans have been mostly optimistic about Zion Williamson this year, even though he missed most of it with an injury and never really came back after the COVID-19 lockdown.

But there are reasons to be deeply concerned if you’re the Pelicans, especially after what we’ve seen in the bubble.

Here are some reasons to be worried.

A Lost Season of Development

Forgotten in all of the Rookie of the Year hype and argument is the fact that Zion Williamson has only played 24 games for the New Orleans Pelicans.

For most of them, he was on a minutes’ restriction, and there were only a few games where we got to see a fully unleashed Zion at the height of his powers.

What was saw gave a lot of reason for excitement, as Zion averaged 23 points and nearly seven rebounds a game, even in limited action.

The concern is that Zion Williamson essentially lost a year of development by only playing a handful of games.

It was particularly concerning that he wasn’t able to really play after returning to the bubble, as it would have been nice to at least get him some full-game reps in a pressure environment.

Zion didn’t even get that, as his minutes were limited and he spent more time frustrated on the bench than on the floor.

It has been a grind for Zion Williamson in his rookie year, as he was never able to get going and essentially lost his first season.