The 2026 offseason is bound to bring major changes for the New Orleans Pelicans. With back-to-back seasons of failing to reach the 30-win mark and an emerging young core, the time to sell is now. When looking at the Pelicans roster on paper, there is a ton of talent that could be flipped for future assets to accelerate the team’s rebuild around Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears. That said, there is no player on this roster who needs to be traded to usher in a new era more than Zion Williamson.
For seven years, the Pelicans have been a team defined by Zion and how far he can lead them with no clear path forward beyond him. But now things are different. With two incredible rookies from the 2025 NBA Draft, other emerging young complementary pieces, and a head coaching opening, the Pelicans now finally have a chance to wipe the slate clean.
The time is now
Ever since Anthony Davis' departure in the 2019 offseason, the weight of the Pelicans franchise was put on Zion's shoulders, and it just didn't pan out the way many expected. He's always been an elite scorer and one of, if not the best, rim finishers in the entire NBA, but his struggles with shooting from the perimeter make him hard to build around. To realistically have him be your number one in the modern NBA, you need to have some of, if not the best, floor spacing in the league, and with shooting being at a premium, that's tough to do.
The 2025-26 season has shown that, even at his lowest career usage, Zion can still produce at an incredibly high level. He posted averages of 21.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 60 percent from the field. For the Pelicans, this type of production, combined with how healthy the former Duke superstar has been this season, gives them a great chance to get real value in return.
Even though the days of Zion being viewed as a potential No. 1 option are gone, that doesn't mean some team wouldn't buy into him as a No. 2 or No. 3.
Obviously, the Zion era ending without playoff series wins isn't how fans thought it would go when he was drafted first overall in 2019. But the NBA is all about adapting or dying, and the Pelicans are at a point where adapting to a life without Zion makes more sense than ever. They have their replacement in the frontcourt in Derik Queen, someone the team can mold and run its offense through.
Queen, paired with Jeremiah Fears, is giving fans hope that they'll finally be able to reach a level that Zion, Anthony Davis, and even Chris Paul failed to bring New Orleans basketball to. But that can't start until the Zion Williamson band-aid is officially torn off, and the 2026 offseason presents the perfect time to make that happen.