Will Zion Williamson be available for the play-in tournament?

For the second straight season, the New Orleans Pelicans will be participating in the NBA Play-In Tournament. And for the second straight season, they will have to do so without the services of superstar forward Zion Williamson.

On Friday, April 7th, it was reported by ESPN’s Andrew Lopez that Williamson will not return in time for the Pelicans’ play-in tournament run. Remember, being that they are the ninth seed in the conference, the team will need to win two games (one at home and one on the road) to secure the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.

To make matters worse, on Monday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania said on the Pat McAfee Show that it does not look like Williamson is close to getting back to the floor any time soon. So, even if the Pelicans can manage to win their two play-in games (a feat they pulled off last season), it seems improbable that Williamson will be ready to go in a potential first-round series against the Denver Nuggets.

"“From what I’m told, there’s no expectations from the Pelicans that he will be on the floor at any point in the first round of the playoffs,” Charania told the Pat McAfee Show. “He’s not gonna play in the play-in tournament games this week. The hope is that maybe he begins to practice at some point in the first round or do more.”"

Williamson has been rehabbing from a strained hamstring he suffered on January 2nd against the Philadelphia 76ers. Since then, he’s missed the team’s final 45 regular season games. Overall, Williamson has missed 53 games on the season. For his career, he’s missed 194 of the 308 (63%) regular season games he’s been eligible to play in.

On the year, the Pelicans are 17-12 with Williamson on the floor and 25-28 without him. The team hosts the Oklahoma City Thunder in their first play-in game on Wednesday, April 12th, at 9:30 Eastern Standard Time (EST).