Well, it's safe to say this wasn't the season anyone envisioned for the New Orleans Pelicans. A team that many saw competing for a playoff spot in the West ended up in the gutter - and won less than 25 games for the first time since the franchise was still called the New Orleans Hornets, back in the 2011-12 season.
The fact that the Pelicans used 44 different starting lineups this season is all the proof anyone needs that this team was positively snake-bitten by injuries since the regular season campaign began. But unfortunately, when discussing the injuries that plagued this roster and tanked their playoff chances, the discussion has to start and end with Zion Williamson.
New Orleans' franchise player appeared in just 30 games in 2024-25, after playing in a career-most 70 games the previous season. When healthy, he was certainly impressive. Williamson averaged 24.6 points on 56% shooting in those 30 games, but his availability was once again far too big of a question mark. There will obviously be a split opinion within the Pels' fanbase on what the best course of action is regarding Zion going forward, but now that Joe Dumars is taking over as Head of Basketball Operations, the best choice is clear - the team has to trade him.
The Pelicans have no choice - they must trade Zion Williamson
At the end of the day, the best-case scenario regarding a player like Williamson is always going to differ from the actual reality of his on-court product. Again, when he's playing, Zion is a special talent. But it's becoming increasingly clear that the Pelicans are not going to be able to rely on him playing a full season when they need him to.
The good thing is, Williamson's market value is still relatively high. There is still going to be interest in him from other teams around the league given his potential, so New Orleans can theoretically still get a considerable return should they opt to trade him. If they went this route, the Pelicans would do best to begin a proper rebuild and structure their team around Trey Murphy moving forward.
This team already has solid supporting pieces like Bruce Brown and Herb Jones as well. As talented as Zion is, New Orleans does not need to continue handicapping themselves by waiting around for an injury-plagued player to finally be healthy on a consistent basis. Making this decision won't be easy, but it's the best path back to contention for the Pelicans.