Zion Williamson may be as close to a return as his 1-12 New Orleans Pelicans are to playoff contention right now.
Shams Charania of The Athletic said this week on “The Pat McAfee Show” that the star forward Williamson is not close to a return, adding that the Pelicans continue to push back his timeline.
“What is the point then to bring him back if they are not anywhere close [to contention]?” Charania added.
Charania also said that Williamson’s bone is not fully healing yet and that he still needs to get into proper game shape, which he is not currently in.
The Pelicans have suffered nine consecutive losses and are already a full five games back of even the play-in tournament zone. They also have seven more contests against teams with winning records before the end of November.
The former No. 1 overall pick Williamson continues to recover from his foot surgery and has created loud speculation over his weight during his absence. Combined with the Pelicans’ truly abysmal record right now, it does not sound like we will be seeing Williamson back on the court for awhile.
Photo: Mar 4, 2020; Dallas, Texas, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) laughs while warming up before the game against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
As if David Griffin wasn’t already under enough scrutiny, now he is the subject of a WWE-like storyline.
Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer reported this week that the New Orleans Pelicans executive had a heated run-in with former Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry during a recent home game. Gentry, who is now the associate head coach for the Sacramento Kings, was in New Orleans on Oct. 29 for Sacramento’s contest against the Pelicans. After the game, a 113-109 victory for the Kings, Griffin reportedly approached Gentry to offer a warm hello. However, Gentry brushed off his efforts as inauthentic.
Gentry was apparently upset about a recent article by NOLA.com claiming that Griffin used to lament to team and league officials that he would give Gentry “all the answers to the test, and he still fails.” Griffin reportedly denied the findings of the article to Gentry, but Gentry replied back with some choice words.
“You must not have given Stan the answers to the test, either,” an irritated Gentry allegedly shouted at Griffin during the run-in. This was a reference to Stan Van Gundy, who succeeded Gentry as coach of the Pelicans but was fired after just one season as well. Fischer adds that the two men then had to be separated.
Gentry was head coach of the Pelicans for five seasons from 2015 to 2020. Griffin arrived as New Orleans’ head of basketball operations in 2019 but fired Gentry after just one season of working together. Fischer’s report adds that Griffin was widely known to covet Tyronn Lue, his former colleague on the Cleveland Cavaliers, instead of Gentry.
The Pelicans have not exactly fared well since Gentry’s firing. Under Van Gundy last season, they went 31-41 and did not even qualify for the play-in tournament. Under new head coach Willie Green, the Pelicans are now a league-worst 1-11 this season. They have also faced questions about their handling of superstar Zion Williamson’s injury. Now they can add some more bad press for the embattled Griffin to their list of woes.
Photo: Jul 5, 2019; Las Vegas, NV, USA; New Orleans Pelicans general manager David Griffin in attendance against the New York Knicks during an NBA Summer League game at Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Lonzo Ball’s former teammates might not be too happy about a recent comment that he made.
The Chicago Bulls released a video to YouTube this week giving a behind-the-scenes look of their start to the season. The video included a clip of Ball addressing his teammates during practice ahead of Chicago’s opening game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Ball’s old team. Ball shared his scouting report on the Pelicans and made an unflattering remark about them.
“They don’t really wanna pass the ball,” he said. ” BI [Brandon Ingram] is trying to get to the mid-range, and Nickeil [Alexander-Walker] wants to get to the layup.”
Ball was with the Pelicans for the last two seasons and had been teammates with Ingram in particular for his entire career, dating back to their time on the Los Angeles Lakers. The Bulls would go on to win that game 128-112.
The difference has to feel stark for the former No. 2 overall pick Ball. After going a combined 61-83 (.424) in New Orleans, Ball has now helped lead the Bulls to a 6-1 record, tied for best in the NBA. Ball also had more shade for the Pelicans right after he left, so it sounds like there is no love lost there.
Photo: Mar 26, 2021; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball warms up before their game against the Denver Nuggets at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
Zion Williamson will miss the start of the regular season due to an injury for the second time in his three years in the NBA, and that has once again led to concerns about the former first overall pick’s weight.
Williamson is one of the bulkier players in the NBA. He is listed at 284 pounds, which is quite the build considering he is 6-foot-6. The New Orleans Pelicans announced last week that Williamson will not play at the start of the year, as he is still recovering from foot surgery he underwent during the summer. According to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, Williamson has let his weight get away from him again while rehabbing.
When Williamson traveled to Minnesota recently for the Pelicans’ preseason game against the Timberwolves, NBA personnel were said to be “struck by his heavier appearance.” Sources told Fischer that Williamson weighs over 300 pounds.
“I know Zion at 280, and he was not 280,” one person who saw Williamson said.
Williamson missed several weeks at the start of his rookie season two years ago due to a knee injury. If you remember, there was a report that even Nike — his biggest sponsor — was concerned about his weight. The talk resurfaced during the NBA bubble in Orlando, though Williamson supposedly slimmed down again after that.
The trend is obviously a troubling one. Weight issues and foot injuries tend to go hand-in-hand. That’s why centers and bigger forwards are often worst affected by them.
The Pelicans contradicted themselves recently with their timeline for Williamson’s return. There has been speculation that they could have him on a minutes restriction when he’s cleared, which is something to monitor given that Williamson was reportedly frustrated at one point with how the Pelicans handled one of his injuries.
Photo: Mar 4, 2020; Dallas, Texas, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) laughs while warming up before the game against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Zion Williamson’s health is now officially a cause for concern, and the New Orleans Pelicans’ statements about it are complicating matters even further.
Pelicans executive David Griffin announced Thursday that Williamson will miss the start of the regular season with his foot injury. The All-Star forward will be re-evaluated in two weeks and currently has no timetable to return.
The injury is not a new one, as Griffin told the media roughly three weeks ago that Williamson underwent surgery to repair a fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot suffered earlier in the summer. But at the time, Griffin said that Williamson’s timeline “should get him back on the court in time for the regular season.”
On Thursday though, Griffin tried to backtrack by saying that he had meant Williamson would be back some time during the regular season, not at the start. Griffin also said that “nothing has gone wrong” with Williamson in terms of a setback since his earlier comments.
Griff on Zion: “Truth be told, I never said opening night. But that’s OK. I said for the regular season. But I do think it’s going to be something that because of the bone healing aspect of things, it’s hard. Every player is different. Nothing has gone wrong."
Griff clarified today that "his timeline should get him back on the court in time for regular season" comment meant any time during the regular season, not the start of the regular season.
Any reasonable person would take Griffin’s “in time for the regular season” comment to mean the start of the regular season. If player was expected out until March (still technically the regular season), nobody would say of him before the season began, “We expect him back on the court in time for the regular season.” Thus, Griffin’s comments come across as confusing and self-contradictory, especially since Williamson did not suffer a setback.
What is even more concerning is that Williamson reportedly was already unhappy with the way that Griffin and the Pelicans handled an injury that he had in his rookie season. The Pelicans’ conflicting comments about his latest injury bring to mind the Grand Theft Auto “here we go again” meme.
Photo: Mar 4, 2020; Dallas, Texas, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) laughs while warming up before the game against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
The New Orleans Pelicans made a big splash when they hired David Griffin to run their basketball operations department in 2019. Griffin is viewed as one of the better executives in the NBA after he built a championship team around LeBron James in Cleveland, but apparently those who work with him are not all that fond of him.
Christian Clark of NOLA.com published a lengthy article on Wednesday that pulled back the curtain on some of the supposed dysfunction that exists within the Pelicans organization. Clark was told by sources that some team employees have grown to “actively dislike” Griffin. One of the ways they expressed that to one another was by referring to Griffin as “Griff Krause.”
That is a reference to Jerry Krause, who was the general manager of the Chicago Bulls when they won six titles. Krause has widely been blamed for breaking up the Bulls dynasty. He butted heads with Michael Jordan over personnel moves and alienated Phil Jackson. Some of the issues with Krause were highlighted in “The Last Dance” documentary series last year, though he is not alive to share his side of the story.
According to Clark, people with the Pelicans were unhappy with how Griffin handled Alvin Gentry’s firing after the 2019-20 season. Griffin blamed Gentry for New Orleans’ struggles earlier that season, though some did not feel the head coach was at fault. In one exchange, Griffin supposedly arrogantly told someone, “I give Alvin all the answers to the test, and he still fails.”
There were also issues between Zion Williamson and Griffin. The former No. 1 overall pick was reportedly unhappy with the way the Pelicans handled his knee injury his rookie year, which led to him having a poor relationship with Griffin.
The Pelicans fired Stan Van Gundy after one season and have replaced him with Willie Green. Their young roster, lead by Williamson and Brandon Ingram, has a lot of talent. If the team continues to struggle, the internal issues with Griffin could come to a boil.
New Orleans’ prodigal son very nearly made his way home this offseason.
Brian Windhorst of ESPN said this week on “The Hoop Collective” podcast that the New Orleans Pelicans offered Paul a three-year, $100 million deal. Windhorst adds that the 11-time All-Star appeared to have entertained the offer for some time. But the Suns ended up giving Paul a $120 million contract with a partially-guaranteed fourth year, which he accepted.
Paul, now 36, was drafted by New Orleans in 2005 and played the first six seasons of his career with them back when they were still the Hornets. The team just hired former Suns assistant Willie Green to be their next head coach. They also would have been able to complement Paul with a young core led by Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram.
That said, Paul just made the Finals with Phoenix’s fine young core of their own led by Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton. With his new deal paying him until age 40, it was simply too good for Paul to walk away from, despite New Orleans’ best efforts to bring him home.
Chris Paul appears likely to remain with the Phoenix Suns, but a somewhat surprising team apparently had hopes of luring him away.
According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, the New Orleans Pelicans were determined to try to sign Paul at the start of free agency. New Pelicans coach Willie Green is close with Paul. However, the team’s interest predates Green’s hire, as they tried to trade for Paul before last season when he ultimately wound up in Phoenix.
The Pelicans appear unlikely to succeed in their quest, however. Fischer reports that Paul appears “all but destined” to return to the Suns on a three-year deal worth roughly $90 million.
Paul originally became a star with the New Orleans franchise after being drafted in 2005. It doesn’t sound like he ever had much interest in returning, however. As for the Pelicans, they’re clearly expecting to say goodbye to Lonzo Ball, as they have been linked to several top point guards.
Willie Green has been considered the frontrunner for the New Orleans Pelicans head coach job for quite some time, and the team has now made it official.
The Pelicans announced on Thursday that they have hired Green as their head coach.
Green previously worked as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns, so he was credited with helping the team reach the NBA Finals this year. The 39-year-old played in the NBA for 12 seasons and served as an assistant under Steve Kerr for the Warriors from 2016-2019. He joined Monty Williams’ staff in Phoenix in 2019, where he has been instrumental in coordinating a defense that has become one of the best in the NBA.
The Pelicans fired former head coach Stan Van Gundy after just one season with the team, likely due to philosophical differences. They obviously feel Green will be a better asset for Zion Williamson and the rest of the team’s young core.
The New Orleans Pelicans have one of the most promising collections of young talent in the NBA, and they may feel that Kyle Lowry would be the perfect player to lead those players going forward.
Lowry is set to become a free agent this summer, and Marc Stein of the New York Times reported on Monday that the Pelicans are planning to pursue the veteran point guard.
Lowry is 35, but there will be high interest in him this summer. He averaged 17.2 points and 7.3 assists per game for the Toronto Raptors this season. You can understand why the Pelicans would feel he could be an asset to Zion Williamson as the former No. 1 overall pick enters his third NBA season.
