For practically the entire 2024-25 NBA season, the New Orleans Pelicans have flown under the radar. At the beginning of the season, they weren't counted among the top contenders in the league due to their lack of prior success and shaky depth. Then, when the injuries started racking up and they were forced to tank, the basketball world outside of NOLA forgot about them entirely.
Now that we're in the dog days of the long NBA season, some have started to take notice of the Pelicans again. It may be too late for Trey Murphy III's Most Improved Player campaign, but fans around the league have at least begun properly acknowledging the strides he's made in his game this year.
As always though, New Orleans basketball revolves around Zion Williamson and will continue to do so until he's no longer with the team. The Pelicans may be struggling mightily as a unit, but Zion is currently in the midst of the best stretch of basketball in his entire career. Even though he's performing out of his mind recently, Zion Williamson's improved play might not actually make his future with the Pelicans any more secure.
Zion Williamson's torrid run will only inspire more trade rumors
Pelicans fans have grown accustomed to hearing Zion Williamson trade talks, even if the discussions are completely unsubstantiated. This is a common sentiment among followers of "small market" NBA teams. The national media has a tendency to overestimate the allure of a big city, both to the players and to the fans.
Because New Orleans didn't find immediate success with Z, talking heads have been trying to abduct him and bring him to a big market via mock trades for years. This season only exacerbated this issue. Ahead of the trade deadline, the Pelicans had reportedly made nearly their entire roster available, including Zion. While we haven't heard of any real discussions involving him, New Orleans making it known that they were willing to listen to offers for the former number one pick will surely only encourage these rumors, if not actual interest from other NBA teams.
It was thought that maybe Zion's long-term future would be come more clear following the trade deadline. While New Orleans did elect to retain him through the deadline, they didn't really make any concrete moves that gave any real indication about Williamson's prospect either way. But since then, he's been determined to prove himself a viable cornerstone for the Pelicans moving forward.
Since the trade deadline, he's averaging 25.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 1.2 steals while shooting 62 percent from the field in just 29 minutes a night. Perhaps more impressively, he's played in every game in that span aside from three, all of which were the second legs of back-to-backs.
This stretch of All-NBA caliber play should help the Pelicans feel better about committing to Zion long-term. On the other hand, it might also reinvigorate his trade market, as Tim McMahon hinted at on The Hoop Collective podcast with Brian Windhorst. Perhaps some other team might feel so enamored by his recent play that they'll make New Orleans an offer they can't refuse in the offseason. Suffice it to say, while his recent play has been objectively incredible, it hasn't swung his future with the Pelicans either way due to the conflicting effects it could have.