Zion Williamson Rumors | Hoops Rumors

No Back-To-Backs For Zion Williamson

December 6th, 2019 at 2:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Pelicans plan to be very careful with injured rookie Zion Williamson when he’s ready to start playing, writes Andrew Lopez of ESPN. Vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said Williamson’s condition will be closely monitored and he won’t be used in back-to-back situations.

“He very likely will not be asked to take the pounding of back-to-backs initially,” Griffin said in an appearance on the team’s TV broadcast. “There will be a sort of ramp-up for him to getting back to where you would call him full strength, but he’s certainly going to be playing, and we’re trying to win basketball games. And quite frankly, we’ve done a horrible job of that.”

New Orleans is off to a 6-16 start without Williamson, who continues to recover from a meniscus injury he suffered in the preseason. He was originally projected to miss six to eight weeks, and while the team expects him back soon, he won’t meet that timetable. He has progressed to the point that he can handle some basketball activity, such as light walk-throughs and spot shooting.

Williamson was spectacular in the preseason, averaging 23.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per night and shooting 71.4% from the field. He suffered the injury in an October 13 game and underwent surgery eight days later.

Griffin is confident that the organization is making the right decision by allowing its star rookie to take his recovery slowly.

“Where we may be failing in terms of the short term, I’m very confident that we’re succeeding over the breadth of what we’re trying to do, which is build a sustainable winner,” he said. “And we’re well on our way to that, despite the current record.”

Latest On Zion Williamson’s Recovery

December 3rd, 2019 at 11:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Zion Williamson‘s NBA regular season debut is getting closer, but it’s still not imminent.

According to Kristen Ledlow of TNT (Twitter link), the Pelicans‘ much-hyped rookie “turned a corner” in his rehab process, but the club continues to err on the side of caution. As such, Williamson’s return will “definitely” come outside the initial six-to-eight-week window provided by the Pels.

A source tells Andrew Lopez of ESPN that Williamson has begun doing some on-court work, including “light walkthroughs” with the team, as well as spot shooting. In addition to needing to ramp up that on-court work and begin taking contact, the No. 1 overall pick will also have to reach certain conditioning benchmarks before he makes his debut, Lopez writes.

The Pelicans announced Williamson’s original six-to-eight-week timetable back on October 21, so the eight-week mark would fall on December 16. It’s safe to say we won’t see Williamson on the court before then, which means his earliest possible target date would be on December 17, when the Pelicans host Brooklyn.

There’s certainly no guarantee that Williamson will be back for that game against the Nets, but if he can make it back during that following week, it’d be good news for NBA fans. The Pelicans are participating in one of the NBA’s five Christmas Day games this year, and a healthy Zion would make that matchup vs. Denver a whole lot more interesting.

Pelicans Notes: Zion, Davis, Griffin, Gentry

November 29th, 2019 at 10:20am CST by Arthur Hill

Excitement is building in New Orleans for the debut of Zion Williamson, even though a target date hasn’t been set, writes Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. The top pick in this year’s draft is recovering from meniscus surgery, and a return before Christmas is still considered possible. He is able to do partial, weight-bearing workouts, but hasn’t been cleared to take contact.

“He’s dying to be back out here,” Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry said. “He’s taking his rehab very, very serious. He’s chomping on the bit. We’d love to have him out there because he is a game-changer. Who wouldn’t want him out there? … It’s been tough for him only to be able to play in the preseason and not play now. He’s going to be special regardless because he is a team-first guy. And team-first guys seem to succeed in this league and have an impact on their team.”

The Pelicans are expecting Williamson to contribute right away when he does return. After a 6-12 start marked by a long string of injuries, executive vice president David Griffin said the team needs Williamson’s “energy” and “unbridled joy” for the game.

“He’s a monster,” Jrue Holiday added. “Having Zion has been really cool. He definitely surprised me professionally. Obviously, coming from college at 19, he is a little kid at heart. But the way he handles it is like an ultimate professional.”

There’s more from New Orleans, all from Spears:

Former Pelicans star and fellow No. 1 pick Anthony Davis met with Williamson when the Lakers traveled to New Orleans this week. Davis could have been Zion’s teammate, but didn’t back off from his trade request after the Pelicans won the draft lottery. “I told him to get healthy,” Davis said. “Obviously, they’re waiting on his return and they’re trying to hold on until he gets back.”
Gentry cites “a change of culture” since Griffin was hired to run the organization in April. The move was part of a front office overhaul that included adding Trajan Langdon as general manager and former WNBA star Swin Cash as vice president of basketball operations and team development. “The players know that everything is first class,” Gentry said. “Not that it hadn’t been before. But just the overall feeling and overall environment in a more positive way.”
One change that wasn’t made was on the bench, where Gentry was retained despite a 33-49 record last season and a 145-183 mark in his first four years in New Orleans. Griffin had previous experience with Gentry in Phoenix and is confident that he can eventually produce a winner. “Everybody says, ‘Why didn’t you start over with a new coach?’ ” Griffin said. “‘Well, I don’t know a lot of other coaches that I went to the conference finals with, with a roster similar to this.’ The fearless Alvin that coached the 2010 Suns to the conference finals is a different animal than he was able to be here. My job is to get to channel as much of that person as I can because that was a masterful job that I watched him do.”

David Griffin On Zion Williamson: “Getting Better Every Day”

November 23rd, 2019 at 11:59am CST by marksuleymanov

The Pelicans have been without 2019 first overall draft pick Zion Williamson for the entire regular season thus far as he recovers from meniscus surgery. As New Orleans awaits Williamson’s debut, president of basketball operations David Griffin told ESPN New Orleans 100.3 that the 19-year-old is progressing as expected.

“We’re really optimistic, and most importantly, Zion is really excited and that’s where we want him to be,” Griffin said.

Before undergoing surgery on October 20, Williamson showed the talent that made him this year’s top pick during preseason play. He averaged 23.3 PPG, 6.5 RPG and 2.3 APG while shooting 71.4% from the field. Thus far, without Williamson, the Pelicans have gone 6-9 but have won their last three games.

With a healthy Williamson, the Pelicans would likely expect a strong push for a postseason spot. According to Griffin, the Duke product is physically recovering well and the next step will be mentally preparing the phenom for his regular-season debut.

“The physical part is easy for him,” Griffin said. “He has an incredibly high basketball IQ. He loves being a teammate and getting better. He’s really rare among truly elite young players in that he enjoys the process of getting better. He loves the process of learning the game.”

The original six-to-eight week timeline had Williamson returning anywhere from the end of November to mid-December. Griffin noted that New Orleans would “err on the side of caution” with their potential superstar. A recent report from TNT’s Reggie Miller noted that Williamson is on track for a mid-December return.

“Right now, I think we’re on target for eight weeks,” Griffin said. “Probably not to the day, but in and around that.”

Update On Zion Williamson

November 22nd, 2019 at 10:34am CST by ChrisCrouse

Zion Williamson has yet to make his highly anticipated debut with the Pelicans due to a knee injury, but apparently things have been going well for the rookie as he makes his way back to the court.

According to TNT’s Reggie Miller (h/t The Render), Williamson is on schedule with his rehab and “definitely” will be back by mid-December.

The No. 1 overall pick underwent surgery back in late October and was expected to miss six-to-eight weeks. Eight weeks would have him make his debut by December 17 vs. the Nets and Miller’s reporting co-signs that timeline.

Western Notes: Russell, D. Green, Korver, Zion

November 11th, 2019 at 10:42am CST by Luke Adams

Winter weather played a factor in D’Angelo Russell‘s decision to choose the Warriors over the Timberwolves in free agency this summer, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune.

The Timberwolves initially appeared to have the upper hand, led by Karl-Anthony Towns, one of Russell’s best friends, and Pablo Prigioni, one of his favorite assistant coaches with the Nets. However, the Warriors swooped in on June 30 with a maximum-salary offer as part of a sign-and-trade involving Kevin Durant.

“I thought the opportunity here was amazing … ” Russell said of the Timberwolves on Friday. “But then when this (Warriors) opportunity came, the weather is way better, so that helped me. … I did my first winter in New York and that was tough. So to get the opportunity to go somewhere where it’s warm again, I think that played a major part in my plan.”

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

The Warriors are still months away from getting Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson back, but it appears Draymond Green is ready to return to the lineup. Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets that Green is “trending toward” returning on Monday vs. Utah after missing five games due to a torn ligament and small bone chip in his left index finger.
It was an eventful offseason for veteran sharpshooter Kyle Korver, who was traded from the Jazz to the Grizzlies to the Suns, then was released by Phoenix before signing with Milwaukee. As Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune writes, Korver admitted he was surprised by the initial trade out of Utah. “Yeah, definitely caught me off-guard. Like I said, I’ve been traded a few times before — very rarely do you see it coming,” Korver said. “You know, the NBA is a beautiful job for a lot of reasons; living stability is not one of them.”
Pelicans fans anxiously awaiting Zion Williamson‘s debut will almost certainly have to wait until at least December, as head coach Alvin Gentry recently confirmed that a November return date would be “ambitious” (Twitter link via Andrew Lopez of ESPN). Williamson, who is recovering from meniscus surgery, said last week that his knee is “getting stronger day by day” and is confident he’ll still have plenty of opportunities to contribute over the course of the 82-game season, writes Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com.

Alex Kirschenbaum contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Duval, G League Draft, NBA Rosters, Williamson

October 25th, 2019 at 8:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Trevon Duval has signed a G League contract and is eligible for this Saturday’s draft, Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days tweets. Duval was a two-way player for the Rockets last season and became a free agent when the team didn’t give him a qualifying offer this summer. He was claimed by Houston in March after the Bucks waived him. The former Duke guard made three cameo appearances with Milwaukee.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Journeyman center Hasheem Thabeet, former Lakers guard Vander Blue, and forward Trey Mourning, son of Alonzo Mourning, are some of the more interesting names on the list of players eligible for the G League draft, according to a league press release. The Northern Arizona Suns have the first pick.
There are 108 international players from 38 countries and territories on current NBA rosters, according to a league press release. The most-represented countries among the 108 international players on opening-night rosters are Canada (16 players), Australia (nine players), France (eight players), Croatia (seven players) and Serbia (six players). The Mavericks lead the league with seven international players.
Zion Williamson‘s knee injury created disappointment for the NBA’s TV partners, as Joe Vardon of The Athletic explains. TNT and ESPN wanted nationally-televised games featuring the Pelicans during the opening week of the season to showcase Williamson. They were stuck showing the Pelicans without the top pick in the draft on the court because it was too late to make a change. Vardon goes in-depth on how the national TV schedule is designed and notes that the Lakers play 21 of their 30 nationally -televised games after New Year’s Day because the networks wanted to feature LeBron James and Anthony Davis during the team’s playoff push.
Amida Brimah, the former UConn center who was in training camp with the Pacers, has suffered a torn right ACL, Scott Agness of The Athletic tweets. He was slated to join Indiana’s G League team, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Brimah will undergo surgery next week, Agness adds.

David Griffin Discusses Zion Williamson’s Injury, Conditioning

October 22nd, 2019 at 8:26pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Zion Williamson is slated to miss six-to-eight weeks with a torn meniscus in his right knee. While some have speculated that Williamson’s injury occurred because of his weight, GM David Griffin made it clear he doesn’t buy into that theory.

“The notion that this happened because Zion is in poor condition is asinine,” Griffin said of Williamson (via Andrew Lopez of ESPN.com). “He wasn’t in poor condition when he went 12 of 13 last week against Utah. That’s not what it is. He’s just a very unique body type and certainly from a physics perspective.”

Exactly when Williamson sustained the injury is unclear. He let the team know of knee discomfort in mid-October, a couple of days after the Pelicans’ preseason game against the Spurs.

The team’s medical staff is working with the No. 1 overall pick to learn more about his body, as there have been few players with Williamson’s particular type of athletic build.

“He can be 274 pounds with 8.5% body fat and he can be 280 pounds with 9% body fat,” Griffin said. “As we have gone through the process for our medical team, learning how to keep him lean and give him the core strength and stability and control he needs to handle all that torque he generates, typically that means you are going to do things to strengthen those areas.

“In this case, he gains muscle mass so fast and gains weight so fast, no one has ever dealt with anybody like him. He’s 19 and it’s going to be a learning experience for all of us.”

Williamson played in four preseason games this fall. He averaged 23.0 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 71.0% from the field.

While the team has set Williamson’s recovery timetable at six-to-eight weeks, Griffin said today that he expects the former Duke star to try to make it back sooner than that.

Zion Williamson Undergoes Meniscus Surgery, Out 6-8 Weeks

October 21st, 2019 at 3:46pm CST by Luke Adams

It sounds like Zion Williamson‘s much-anticipated NBA regular season debut won’t happen until at least December.

According to a press release issued today by the Pelicans, the No. 1 overall pick underwent arthroscopic surgery to address a torn right lateral meniscus. Williamson is expected to be ready to return in approximately six to eight weeks, per the team.

It’s a tough blow for the Pelicans, for Williamson, and for the NBA, which scheduled New Orleans for several nationally televised games in the first few weeks of the season, including Tuesday night’s opener in Toronto. Of course, it’s also bad news for NBA fans, since the former Duke forward is entering the league as one of most exciting rookies of this century.

If Williamson were to miss exactly six weeks, he’d be out for New Orleans’ first 20 games and would be on track to return on December 3 against the Mavericks. An additional two-week absence would cost him at least seven more games, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Pelicans lean toward that option, since they’ll treat his recovery with an abundance of caution, as we heard last week.

With the star rookie on the shelf, the Pelicans could use some combination of Brandon Ingram, Nicolo Melli, and Kenrich Williams to fill the available minutes at the four. The Pelicans’ depth at forward will be tested early, as sharpshooter Darius Miller is out for the season with a torn Achilles.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Zion Williamson Out With Knee Injury To Start Season

October 18th, 2019 at 10:49am CST by Luke Adams

Pelicans forward Zion Williamson is expected to be sidelined for “a period of weeks” to start his rookie season due to a right knee injury, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

The Pelicans announced on Thursday that Williamson would miss Friday’s preseason game vs. the Knicks with right knee soreness and that he would undergo further testing. According to Wojnarowski, those tests have ruled out the possibility of a severe injury, but New Orleans is treating the issue with an “abundance of caution.” A full recovery is anticipated, Woj adds.

While it’s good news that Williamson avoided a major injury, his absence will put a damper on the NBA’s opening night next Tuesday, when the Pelicans are scheduled to face the defending-champion Raptors in the first game of a TNT doubleheader. The Pelicans also have nationally televised games against the Warriors (October 28), Nuggets (October 31), and Nets (November 4) within the season’s first two weeks.

With the No. 1 overall pick on the shelf, the Pelicans could use some combination of Brandon Ingram, Nicolo Melli, and Kenrich Williams to fill the available minutes at the four. The Pelicans’ depth at forward will be tested early, as sharpshooter Darius Miller is sidelined for the season with a torn Achilles.