With little to no chance of making the playoffs, the Pelicans are making the decision for their long-term future. New Orleans Pelicans star forward Zion Williamson had his season cut short once again.
The Pelicans announced on Monday night that Williamson will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season due to a low back contusion. Veteran guard CJ McCollum has also been sidelined for the rest of the year due to a foot contusion.
The 2024-25 season has been the latest in a string of disappointments in Williamson’s up-and-down six-year career. He was limited to just 30 games after missing a chunk of the year with a hamstring injury. When healthy, he was a man amongst boys and produced at an elite level with 24.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
This season has been a setback and especially disappointing considering Williamson took the court in a career-high 70 games in 2023-24. Since being selected No. 1 overall in the 2019 NBA draft out of Duke, he has appeared in just 214 games for New Orleans, including missing the entire 2021-22 campaign due to foot surgery.
New Orleans announced that Williamson’s rehabilitation program will consist of two major components, rest and treatment.
During Williamson’s prolonged absence, the Pelicans struggled mightily on both ends of the court this season and rank next to last, 14th, in a difficult Western Conference with a 21-54 record. New Orleans also lost point guard Dejounte Murray (Achilles) and swingman Trey Murphy III (shoulder) to season-ending injuries.
Veteran McCollum appeared in 56 games this season and averaged 21.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists. The 2025-26 season is the final year on the 33-year-old’s contract.
None of the trio of Pelicans who averaged at least 20 points per game, Williamson, McCollum and Trey Murphy III (torn labrum), were able complete the season.
The Pelicans currently own the fourth-worst record in the NBA and have used an incredible 41 different starting lineups in the 2024-25 campaign because of a rash of season-ending injuries to key players such as Williamson, McCollum, Murphy, Murray and defensive specialist Herbert Jones.
Without the duo of Williamson and McCollum in the starting five, the Pelicans will be missing all-world talent as they limp their way toward the end of the season.
