Zion Williamson has been with the New Orleans Pelicans since they drafted him No. 1 overall in 2019, but if we're being honest, it's felt like a lot longer than that. Yes, time does fly, but in this case, it's more so because for what feels like 10 years now, his name has been at the center of trade speculation. To move on from Zion, or not?
We are now in 2026, a few months away from the seventh anniversary of the 2019 draft, and the above question is one the front office is once again wondering about. Or, one that it should be thinking about.
NBA insider Chris Haynes reported earlier this month that the Pelicans had been telling teams that Zion, Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones, Derik Queen, and Jeremiah Fears won't be available before the Feb. 5 deadline. Obviously, Queen and Fears shouldn't go anywhere, and you can make that case for Murphy and Jones, too (draft capital would be nice, though), but you can't for Williamson.
The Pelicans need to make Zion Williamson available before the deadline
New Orleans is 12-36, last in the West, so pending a miracle that won't happen, the 2025-26 season will end without another playoff appearance for the fifth time since the organization drafted Zion. This is yet another lost season, and the Pelicans can't even look forward to a top pick in the 2026 draft.
In other words, there is no incentive in New Orleans "tanking" this season, which it is still doing inadvertently. You can argue that it'd make sense to keep Zion then, at least until the season ends, but New Orleans is past that point.
With the deadline a week and a half away, the Pelicans need to make him available while he's healthy and playing well (you don't know how long that will last). Zion is no longer the future, a realization that should've already happened. Queen and Fears are. New Orleans needs to shift its focus entirely to Queen specifically and stop pretending that things with its former top pick will ever work out.
Let Derik Queen cook at power forward. Hand him the keys. Fully put your faith in the player whom you gave up an unprotected pick for. Accept that Zion will never be the player everyone in New Orleans once dreamed he would be.
Will the Pelicans do that before the deadline, in time to find a suitor for the 25-year-old? They need to, at least. Stop delaying the inevitable.