What a week it has been.
The NBA trade deadline along with the Super Bowl gave sports fans non-stop news and excitement until the latest report on Zion Williamson.
Unless you dropped the ball like Jalen Hurts on a critical play, you saw that Williamson re-injured his hamstring while ramping up his workouts for his potential return.
“I think we’re looking at multiple weeks past the All-Star break that he’ll be back,” Griffin said. “What that looks like in terms of timeline, I really can’t tell you. Much as we have throughout this, we’ll continue to image him, and post-All-Star that will happen.”
Reported by Andrew Lopez (ESPN)
The injury update serves as really bad news for a Pelicans team that currently sits in 7th but is only a game away from being in 11th in the ultra-competitive Western Conference.
There’s no excuses for New Orleans GM David Griffin. Even by today’s standards, he was overpaid for Anthony Davis’ services. On paper, the Pelicans have enough assets to leverage almost any deal they want yet the stayed relatively quiet around the NBA trade deadline despite knowing Williamson’s injury history.
Windows in the NBA don’t stay open forever and there’s been way too many teams that banked on “assets” winning them a title.
The west being competitive isn’t a one season thing.
In another era, a team like the Memphis Grizzlies would be perfectly setup to be an annual NBA Finals threat. Instead, there’s a chance that they won’t even make the conference finals.
The Dallas Mavericks made a risky but team improving move when they traded for Kyrie Irving yet it will probably have little to no impact considering the rosters in Phoenix and Denver.
How about the Los Angeles Clippers?
The Clippers have been forgotten about because of all of the injuries throughout the season but they’re well on their way to being healthy.
And I haven’t even mentioned the defending champs, Golden State Warriors or the league’s biggest surprise, Sacramento Kings.
This sort of competition is why the Pelicans need all hands on deck and one of the biggest hands belong to Williamson.
Without him, they’re just another team vying to get out of the first round of the playoffs.
