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Howdy, folks. Welcome back to Layup Lines. It’s Sykes here to usher you into the last weekend of regular season basketball. Let’s talk about Zion Williamson.
Chances are we won’t see the Pelicans superstar at all for the rest of this season.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Will Guillory are reporting that Williamson is “unlikely” to be ready for the Pelicans’ appearance in the NBA Play-In tournament. Charania added that the team has been “cautious with Williamson’s comeback as he continues rehab process.”
Words cannot describe how unfortunate that is.
Williamson has been out since January 2 with a hamstring injury. At the time, the Pelicans were 3rd in the conference and just a half-game out of 1st place. For a time, the Pelicans were actually the west’s top team. The team looked like a legitimate title contender and Williamson looked like an MVP.
Now, here New Orleans is. Back in the same spot the team was in last season — play-in bound and facing a tough road ahead without their best player.
It’s impossible not to wonder about the future of this team at this point. Zion Williamson is the face of it now, sure. But questions about whether the team can depend on him to be there when it counts are legitimate.
For Williamson’s career, he’s averaging 25.9 points per game on 60% shooting from the floor. That’s incredible. But it doesn’t matter — at least, not as much as it should. Why? Because he’s only played in 114 games in his NBA career and he’s been in the league for four seasons.
The Pelicans have something special when he plays. When he doesn’t? New Orleans is just another NBA team. And, for a team with so much promise, that’s beyond disappointing.
Please, Basketball Gods. Get Zion healthy and keep it that way. For the good of the game.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
The Dallas Mavericks have to be the most disappointing team in the NBA this season. To go from the Western Conference Finals with one of the best five or so players in the league to missing the postseason completely? That’s a disaster.
Well, that hasn’t exactly happened yet. The Mavericks can still make the play-in tournament, but Dallas needs to win out to have a shot. And, well, let’s just say the Mavs don’t seem to concerned about that. Dallas is sitting most of its rotation on Friday.
Our Christian D’Andrea has more.
“The team will be without Irving, Tim Hardaway Jr., Christian Wood, Josh Green and Maxi Kleber for a showdown with the Chicago Bulls. Those five players have 108 starts for the team between them. While it’s reasonable to assume the Bulls could rest their veterans after locking in a spot in the Eastern Conference’s play-in, the Mavericks are content to let their postseason hopes lie with Luka Doncic, Reggie Bullock, Dwight Powell, Jaden Hardy and JaVale McGee.”
Let’s be honest — tanking to get and keep a high draft pick is the smart thing for Dallas to do. It just isn’t going to make Luka Doncic happy at all.
This summer could get extremely messy in Dallas. That’s a situation to watch.
Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat are sitting in 7th currently and trying to work their way out of the play-in tournament. The Wizards are absolutely tanking right now — Washington is sitting starters and has already been eliminated from the postseason. This is an easy Heat win. The question is where Miami will be positioned when the playoffs start. We’ll have to see where things go with the Nets to figure that out.
Shootaround
— Kevin Durant proved how silly the NBA’s new CBA rule is with one tweet.
—Charles Barkley and Shaq are up to their regular shenanigans. These two are hilarious, man.
—Here’s a look at the full WNBA Draft order ahead of Monday’s action
— Russell Westbrook got a good bit of revenge against the Lakers. That had to feel good.
Enjoy the weekend, y’all.