The New Orleans Pelicans didn’t answer many questions this offseason but instead added a few new ones to the list.
We went from discussing the nuances of Willie Green’s defense and whether the Pels had enough shooting to wondering if Zion Williamson is going to miss significant time with injury and how the Pelicans are going to stay afloat without him if he does.
It seems unlikely that Zion is going to go from not being able to run to suddenly playing full-speed NBA games in under a week, so the Pels need to prepare for the possibility that he is going to miss some time.
That is going to mean shuffling around their starting lineup and rotations and trying to find a combination of guys that work. And they are going to have to do it on the fly, so I don’t envy coach Green.
To add to their woes, the Pelicans’ schedule starts off fast in October and teams are not going to feel sorry for the Pels if their star doesn’t play.
New Orleans Pelicans schedule in October starts fast
The Pels have tougher stretches in their schedule than the games they have to start the season, but it’s the number of games that matters, especially if Zion Williamson is out.
The Pelicans’ season officially starts on October 20th at home against the Philadelphia 76ers and they will play a whopping SEVEN games before the month ends.
After Philly they have a road back-to-back against the Bulls and Timberwolves before getting a night off and playing the ‘Wolves again in Minnesota, starting the season with four games in five days.
They will then return home to play the Hawks before ending the month with a second back-to-back, this one against the Kings and Knicks.
This is one the Pelicans’ busiest stretches of the entire season, so not having Zion Williamson could put them in a big hole right away, which is not how they want to start things.