Williamson has played in just six of the Pelicans’ 36 games this season.
Zion Williamson is back.
The Pelicans announced that Williamson will return to the court on Tuesday for New Orleans’ game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Williamson has missed the last 27 games with a hamstring strain. He’s played in just six of the Pelicans’ 36 games this season.
Amid a rash of injuries to key players, the Pelicans are off to the worst start in the Western Conference with a 7-29 record. Brandon Ingram, Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Herbert Jones and Trey Murphy III are among the Pelicans players to miss significant time with injuries this season.
Williamson on the sideline has became a familiar refrain since the Pelicans selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft. Williamson has played in just 190 of 426 Pelicans regular-season games since he joined the team due to various injuries.
He’s played in 29 or fewer games in three different seasons, including missing the entire 2021-22 campaign with a foot injury. Williamson played 70 games in 2023-24 season, the most of his NBA career.
He returns to a roster that’s still without fellow former All-Star Ingram, who’s been sidelined with an ankle injury for the past 12 games. Murray, McCollum, Jones and Murphy have all returned from long-term absences, though Murphy has been ruled out for Tuesday’s game with a sprained ankle, and Murray has been playing through elbow soreness.
Despite Williamson’s injury history, the Pelicans signed him to a five-year, $197 million max extension in 2022 that runs through the 2027-28 season. The last three seasons of the deal reportedly are not guaranteed due to a games-played clause that was triggered when he played just 29 games during the 2022-23 season.
When healthy, Williamson has been an imposing interior force on the court. For his career, he’s averaged 24.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists while shooting 58.7% from the field. He’s averaged 22.7 points, eight rebounds and 5.3 assists in the six games he’s played this season.
