The Pelicans have had quite the season — the highs have been high and the lows, well, they've been pretty low.
To no surprise, the team is at its best when No. 1 is in the lineup.
It's been nearly four years since New Orleans selected Zion Williamson first overall in the 2019 NBA Draft. In that span, Williamson has missed 188 of a possible 302 games, including the entirety of the 2021-22 season. This season, an extended absence that began in January has brought Williamson's tally up to 47 absences through 76 games, and the details surrounding his return are murky at best.
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As disheartening as Williamson's absences this season have been, there's just as much encouragement to be taken from his performances when he's in the lineup. It took just a 29-game body of work for Williamson to earn the nod as an All-Star starter — his averages of 26.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game showed that he didn't miss a beat after missing all of last year.
New Orleans' record of 17-12 with Williamson in the lineup and peak as the West's No. 1 seed in mid-December serve as reminders that the franchise has all of the pieces, but any puzzle will be incomplete when the most important piece is steadily missing.
So, what does that mean?
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It's not time to panic about Zion Williamson … yet
We've passed the point where Williamson's injury history is concerning. After a torn meniscus put the beginning of his career on hold, at least one untimely injury has limited Williamson in each season of his career.
In Year 2, Williamson's season came to an early end due to a fractured thumb. Year 3 ended before it began due to a Jones fracture in his right foot. And this year, Williamson's going on three months of missed action due to a strained right hamstring.
The "injury-prone" label is apt, but a closer look at Williamson's history is a reminder that there should be some type of distinction among players that consistently battle injuries.
As wrong as it feels, it's often human nature — or the nature of sports fans — to attempt to compare the plight of one player to another. Perhaps it's a cautionary measure to temper expectations by preparing for the worst while hoping for the best. Who knows?
Sure, the abrupt ending to Brandon Roy's career could be used to frame the delicateness of Williamson's situation, but how Joel Embiid has rebounded from missing the first two seasons of his career (and only playing 31 games in his third) could be used to paint a far more optimistic picture.
Around this time last year, I explored why it was important to maintain a positive outlook toward Williamson's injury woes. While that case is a bit harder to make over a year later, there's one major element that is still working in his favor: He's 22.
Returns from this season are a microcosm of Williamson's career as a whole — as disheartening as the downs have been, the ups have shown that he has the potential of an all-time great. He just needs to be on the floor to do it.
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With that in mind, it's far too early to assume that Williamson will continue to endure such setbacks on a yearly basis.
It would be one thing if Williamson hadn't shown any signs of durability at any point in his career, but he did appear in 61 of the first 66 games in Year 2 before being shut down for the final six due to his thumb. Had New Orleans been in the hunt for a playoff spot, maybe he plays in even more.
Understandably, all we have to work with is what we've seen, but we're still at a point where Williamson can put this behind him and in a few years' time render these first few seasons as a blip and a strange sequence of misfortune.
Ultimately, it's unfair to compare Williamson to anyone else because we've never seen anyone quite like him before. And moving forward, the Pelicans can take measures to ensure that their soon-to-be max player is ready for the postseason.
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Whether it's scheduled rest or maintenance, the focus is getting Williamson through an 82-game season, not seeing him play in as many as possible. The concept itself is far from foreign and, for the sake of drawing apples-to-oranges comparisons, helped the Raptors keep Kawhi Leonard fresh for their historic title run in 2019. The Sixers are currently hoping to employ a similar strategy with Embiid.
If what we've seen from Williamson in 114 games is any indicator, he has the potential to be the best player on a team that wins an NBA championship. If what we've seen from the Pelicans at their peak is any indicator, the team has the right pieces around him to go all the way.
There are even rumblings that Williamson could make it back before the end of this season.
When it comes down to it, it won't be time to panic until it appears that Williamson won't ever be healthy enough to lead New Orleans to 16 wins in the NBA Playoffs. And we're far from coming to that conclusion.
At the end of the day, that's what matters the most.
