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New Orleans Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin told Tim Bontemps and Andrew Lopez of ESPN that No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson is ready to return to play when the season restarts next month.
Williamson has been at the Pelicans’ practice facility throughout the season shutdown receiving treatment. The NBA granted Williamson permission to stay in New Orleans and receive treatment and rehab previous injuries under the supervision of team doctors.
The treatment Williamson received was said to not be related to his surgically-repaired knee and was merely continual treatment. In total, seven Pelicans players stayed in the market throughout the season hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Zion has been diligent about taking care of himself,” Griffin told ESPN. “He’s in a good space physically and mentally.”
Additionally, a person with the Pelicans told ESPN that Williamson is ready to “shock” people throughout the basketball community. What that means is still unclear, of course, but it could be Williamson has put in work in the weight room and on his overall body.
To be determined, though.
Williamson and the Pelicans are part of the 22-team competitive format to restart the 2019-20 season next month at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida. The Pelicans will play eight regular-season games and could either qualify for the playoffs outright or participate in a play-in game to determine the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
The belief around the NBA is that the league office wanted to find a way to include Williamson and the Pelicans in the restart plans in order to maximize his star power and attention. The report by ESPN, according to their sources, pushed back on that idea but Pelicans guard J.J. Redick fully believed the NBA wanted the Pelicans in the picture.
The Pelicans still have some work to do in order to qualify for the postseason but having the team around for at least eight games is certainly a victory for the NBA once the season resumes.
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