Zion Williamson went through his first full practice today since having meniscus surgery in October, tweets Will Guillory of The Athletic. The Pelicans are hoping the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft will be able to make his NBA debut sometime this month, but coach Alvin Gentry said there’s still no projected date for that to happen (Twitter link).
Gentry told reporters that Williamson definitely won’t play during the team’s current road trip, according to a tweet from the Pelicans. New Orleans has a game tomorrow in Los Angeles against the Lakers and Saturday in Sacramento before returning home Monday.
In a video link from the team, Williamson called it a “great experience” to be back at practice and said he would have started two weeks ago if the decision had been up to him. He added that even he doesn’t have a clear idea of when he might start playing. “It’ll probably be one of those moments, like when it came to my college decision, I’ll (wake) up and I’ll know,” he said.
Not only was Williamson a full participant in today’s practice, he stayed afterward for extra work, according to Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link). Williamson practiced his free throws with assistant coach Fred Vinson and worked out with assistant Michael Ruffin as well.
If he does not play at all this season, is his free agency eligible date pushed back a year?
Usually not. It doesn’t affect his ETA to FA. It just pushes his “rookie” year to the next year.
Like how Embiid won Rookie of the Year in his 4th season.
Either you are trying to be funny or you are just stupid. My money is on the latter.
Geez your life must be miserable.
brian214 – do you need a hug?
Do you actively try to not be funny?
I’m still of the opinion that Zion should never play. Right now, his legend is about as big as ever can get unless he becomes the greatest player ever, which is a very unlikely scenario. He can make tons of money through endorsements right now, but if he plays, fickle fans will start to notice his flaws. And then the next big thing will come around next year or the year after.
Greg Oden 2.0