The New Orleans Pelicans and their fans are all too familiar with injuries. Since the inception of the Anthony Davis era in the Big Easy, the Pels have had to constantly worry about a freak accident ripping away their superstar and, in turn, their season. That sentiment only grew when the team traded in AD for Zion Williamson, a generational prospect whose freak athleticism and unique body made him a massive injury concern from the moment he stepped foot in the NBA.
All of those fears came to a head this season. It wasn't just Zion, though. At first, he and Brandon Ingram were surprisingly the only players who managed to stay healthy for the Pelicans, as the oft-injured duo watched the entirety of their supporting cast go down with various afflictions.
But, inevitably, the injury bug came for Zion too. His latest foray into the infirmary was a little more intriguing than usual. At first, he was listed as day-to-day with an unspecified leg injury. It took several days before they gave a real diagnosis of a strained hamstring, but that wasn't the end of it either. The grade of his injury would typically hold an NBA player out for 4-6 weeks. Zion's already been sidelined for over 7 weeks with his strained hamstring. Thankfully, we finally received an encouraging recent update from the Pelicans regarding Zion's recovery.
Zion Williamson returns to practice after over 7 weeks
Pelicans' Head Coach Willie Green recently confirmed that Zion Williamson has been cleared for contact by the team doctors and has made his way back to practicing with the squad. This is an extremely encouraging sign for multiple reasons.
It was reported that New Orleans was open to trading nearly the entirety of its roster, Zion included. Later on, it was said that the Pelicans were not only open to trading Big Z, but they were actively shopping him to other teams alongside Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum. That made it clear that the team wasn't just considering a future post-Zion, but they were purposefully choosing to rebuild the team without him.
With the Pelicans deciding that they prefer a future without Zion and the peculiar handling of his hamstring injury, it was possible that we had seen the last of Big Z in New Orleans without even realizing it. After all, if the team was trying to deal him away before this season's trade deadline, it might have benefitted them to just shut him down until they found a deal for him. That would mitigate any risk of him getting injured again and potentially tanking his trade stock.
Now that Zion's returned to practice, though, he should make his return to the court soon for the Pelicans. There's a chance that they just wanted to clear him for contact and play in order to encourage other teams to trade for him, but it's unlikely they'd give this kind of injury update just to keep him on the sidelines.