The New Orleans Pelicans have had their second straight down season, sitting at 13th in the Western Conference with a 19-43 record. While this season has been another disappointment for fans, the future looks extremely bright with Derik Queen, Jeremiah Fears, and Trey Murphy III at the helm. However, recent comments by Zion Williamson on ESPN suggest that a bright future may have a massive roadblock in its path.
If you aren't aware, Williamson just did a one-on-one sit-down interview with ESPN's Malika Andrews. The two talked about Williamson's injury history, how he's dealt with criticism online, and he even hinted at a return from his ankle injury on Tuesday against the Lakers. The alarming part was that Williamson talked about a future in New Orleans, highlighting that the team is really building something and that the goal for this group in 2026-27 is to have a winning record
"We're building our own identity. We have dealt with injuries, coaches changes... Despite all that our energy is still high, we have a positive locker room. It's not 'What's next?" It's 'How do we build from this?'"
— Pelicans Film Room (@PelsFilmRoom) March 2, 2026
-- Zion Williamson on the future of the Pelicans pic.twitter.com/QVOkQNigRJ
Now, to some Pelicans fans, a future with Williamson seems exciting at 25 years old—he's in the midst of his most consistently healthy season, playing in 34 consecutive games before an ankle tweak. Z is also still putting up great numbers: 21.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game.
The issue is that he doesn't fit long-term with Derik Queen, and considering the Pels gave up a potential top-6 pick in the 2026 draft for DQ, the chances they part with him are almost zero. Meaning his commitment to New Orleans could set the front office up to commit to a frontcourt tandem that doesn't result in winning.
The reality of the Zion–Queen experiment
I'm all for involving veterans and bridging the gap between the roster's past and present during team-building. That being said, when you have two players who play a similar/same position, demand similar touches, are both undersized, and have major defensive deficiencies, it means the front office has to choose. To put into context how bad Queen and Williamson fit on the floor, their Net Rating in two-player lineups is -12.1 according to Databallr. Which, for a team and fan base that wants to eventually get back to being a playoff contender, isn't going to work in both the short term and the long term.
Another prime example of how these two don't fit together is the recent approach interim head coach James Borrego has taken to the team's frontcourt rotation. DeAndre Jordan has started the last five games because the Pelicans need some type of interior presence defensively.
When DJ shares the floor with Z, they have a positive net rating according to Databallr, and the same holds for Queen and DJ, who have a +34.2 net rating when sharing the floor.
New Orleans has an obvious decision to make, and it's trading Williamson this offseason so they can officially start a new era of Pelicans basketball. The previous front office failed for six seasons trying to build around Zion, and if the new regime decides to do the same, it would just be a slap in the face of the fans.