Pelicans target next week for Williamson’s debut
NEW ORLEANS — Zion Williamson, the top choice in last summer’s NBA draft, is scheduled to make his regular-season debut Jan. 22 when the Pelicans host the the Spurs, Pelicans basketball operations chief David Griffin said Wednesday.
“Everything’s moving in the right direction,” Griffin said. “I really believe very strongly he is a radically improved physical version of himself in way that frankly we took the extra time to ensure.”
Williamson has missed the Pelicans’ first 41 games this season while rehabilitating from arthroscopic surgery to repair the lateral meniscus in his right knee.
The timeline set for the former Duke star’s return calls for Williamson to miss three more games, starting with Thursday night’s home game against the Jazz.
The Pelicans host the Clippers on Saturday and visits the Grizzlies on Monday.
Griffin also indicated that Williamson’s minutes will be closely monitored and likely limited for the time being.
“From a sustaining health standpoint, we’re certainly going to treat him differently,” Griffin said. “It’s not about a hard minutes restriction. It’s about what the bursts need to look like. It’s what you’re measuring him by. When you return to play from a serious injury, it’s not going to be a number. He’s going to play in limited numbers of bursts.”
The Pelicans have gone 15-26 without Williamson, but have won nine of their last 13 to pull within four games of the final Western Conference playoff spot with half the season left.
The 6-foot-6, 285-pound Williamson is relatively heavy for an NBA player, never mind one who moves well and often soars above the rim for the kind of dunks that have made him an internet sensation since high school in Spartanburg, S.C.
The purpose of his mid-October surgery was to repair cartilage that serves as natural padding in the knee joint.
So the club has taken a cautious approach to his rehabilitation in hopes of minimizing the possibility of a setback while also trying to improve his overall physical condition.
“You’re addressing everything,” Griffin said. “You’re addressing ankle flexion, and knees and hips and back and everything else.”
Williamson returned to practice Jan. 2 and recently has been seen dunking during Pelicans pre-game warm-up sessions.
But because of the recent frequency of games and travel days, along with having several other players injured, the Pelicans haven’t been able to string many higherintensity, five-on-five practices together.
Williamson played in four preseason games before his injury, averaging 23.3 points and 6.5 rebounds. He averaged 22.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game at Duke during the 2018-19 season.