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Zion Williamson’s injury is a little worse than expected.
As the New Orleans Pelicans prepare for their regular season opener against the defending NBA champions, the Toronto Raptors, on Tuesday night, they’ll have to do so without their top player. According to Adrian Wojnarowksi of ESPN, the top 2019 NBA draft pick will be sidelined for several weeks due to his right knee injury.
The Pelicans are being very vague regarding Williamson’s injury, but it’s clear that the franchise is taking extreme caution with their star player to avoid further injury.
The 6-foot-7 forward was exceeding expectations during the preseason, averaging 23.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game on 71.4 percent from the field over the team’s first four preseason games.
As Andrew Lopez of ESPN reports, the Pelicans are optimistic that Williamson will make a full recovery. However, it is a bit troubling considering that the 19-year-old has a history of serious right knee issues, previously suffering a knee sprain when his shoe famously gave out during a game with Duke last season.
“The Pelicans figure to be cautious regarding Williamson’s return, but the team is confident he will make a full recovery. The 6-foot-7, 284-pound Williamson missed time in summer league after he banged his left knee in a collision with another player. After just eight minutes, the Pelicans shut Williamson down for the summer, although they said they were just being overly cautious.
Williamson suffered a mild right knee sprain during his only season at Duke. That injury occurred when his sneaker gave out just seconds into a game against North Carolina. He missed three weeks with the injury before returning in the ACC tournament.
He was the prohibitive favorite for the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award, coming in at -250 odds at Caesars Sportsbook.”
Report: Williamson Avoids ‘Long Term’ Issues After Injury
According to another report by Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Williamson will undergo further evaluation of his right knee injury, but early indications are that he has avoided “long term” injury with this right knee ailment.
“New Orleans rookie Zion Williamson will undergo further evaluations on right knee today and possibly tomorrow, but the organization is relieved the forward has avoided any major longterm issues, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.”
Still, the Pelicans have avoided publicly declaring when Williamson will exactly return — which would make some people speculate that the injury is worse than what is being reported.
What Do the Pelicans Do Now?
Although the Pelicans have an extremely young squad, they were projected to be a solid team with the nucleus of Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart. With Williamson now out of the picture, New Orleans should fall near the bottom of the pecking order in the Western Conference.
As far as who will actually replace the promising rookie in the starting lineup, the Pelicans’ options aren’t exactly pleasing. They’ll likely go with Nicolo Melli, a 28-year-old Italian player who has never appeared in an NBA game in his career.
Kenrich Williams, a second-year player who went undrafted in 2018, is also a candidate to gobble up minutes due to Williamson’s injury.
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