New Orleans Pelicans fans couldn't believe their luck in 2019 when their favorite team walked away from the draft lottery with the No. 1 pick. Duke phenom Zion Williamson would soon call Louisiana home. Between the draft lottery and the draft, fans dreamed of what it would be like when they watched Zion lead their team to a championship, a dream that will, sadly, never come true.
It's been six and a half years since that celebratory moment in New Orleans, and yet, all that the Pelicans have to show for it is two first-round exits. They lost 4-2 against the Suns in 2022, and the Thunder swept them in 2024. Williamson didn't play in either series due to injury, which has unfortunately been the theme of his time in Louisiana.
The most games that he played in a single season were 70 in 2023-24. New Orleans finished eighth in the West and faced the Lakers in the play-in tournament, but a hamstring injury in the final minutes of the game ended his season and essentially his team's season, too. He had 40 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists before he got hurt. The Pelicans lost 110-106, the closest they've come to postseason success with Zion.
Zion's time with the Pelicans was supposed to be different
He started the 2025-26 season healthy, but a couple of games in, he was out with a left bone contusion. Not long after he returned, he strained his hamstring. He missed eight games, returning on Nov. 19 to play 19 minutes in a 125-118 loss to Denver, in which New Orleans dropped to 2-13, last in the West.
The Pelicans lost two more games, one in which Zion didn't play, before winning their first game in over three weeks on Monday. Zion tied his season-high with 29 points on 8-of-14 shooting. As refreshing as it was to watch New Orleans return to the win column, it's a feeling fans know won't last for long.
With the season essentially already over for the Pelicans, the new front office regime could make Zion available before the Feb. 5 deadline. What they could get for him is another question. He will make $39.4 million this season, and his salaries for 2026-27 ($42.2 million) and 2027-28 ($44.9 million) are non-guaranteed.
This isn't the outlook that the organization and fans had in 2019 when they won the Zion lottery. He's still young, only 25, but it's painfully obvious at this point that the Pelicans won't reach the heights with him they thought they would in 2019. It's time to build around the team's younger talent.
If only this story had a different ending.