Zion Williamson’s future with the pelicans is painfully clear

Zion Williamson enters a crucial season with the Pelicans in New Orleans, and it can also be his last. The Pelicans are unable to fight for the title in a stacked conference, so their best gamble is that Zion is healthy in the first half of the season, have increased commercial value for a pre-deadline movement.

No matter how simple that sounds, it can’t come true that way. Zion has difficulty staying healthy since the Pelicans have prepared him with the number 1 general choice in 2019. Who he is when he is healthy has been enough for New Orleans to hang as long as it has. Well, that and other teams are not willing to pay a high price for a star that cannot stay on the field.

There have been trade rumors around Zion and the Pelicans for literal years, but the 2025-26 season could be when they come to an end, at least for New Orleans. If he can start strongly for the first few months of the season, the Pelicans must benefit from it by finding a trade.

The reality is that it takes much more than that Zion plays well for New Orleans to be a threat, so the actions of him while his value is high, the pelicans will not hurt. It would be the best for them.

Pelicans have to trade Zion when he starts the season strong

Keeping Zion to have a chance to compete in the play-in tournament, should not be New Orleans, not at all. It would be happiness of the Pelicans to do that, only for Zion to get injured and not end the season. Or, to reach the play-in tournament (which in itself would be an achievement) and get injured there.

The Pelicans have played the waiting game long enough with Zion and see where it got them. It’s not enough to think about the player he can Be about what he can achieve when he is healthy. There have been few those times.

Zion is not the fault of the mismanagement of the Pelicans in recent years. He is not the reason why New Orleans has not won a Playoff series since he was drawn up, but he has not held himself or the organization.

There should be a team that is willing to accept Zion before the deadline, perhaps one in the east, desperate to make a run on a title in a weakened conference. If that is the case, the pelicans should not think twice about the agreement with a deal.