It had to be one of the easiest decisions David Griffin and his staff have made in his six seasons calling the shots for the New Orleans Pelicans.
Monday’s decision to shut down Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum for the remainder of the season was a no-brainer. In an ideal season, the Pelicans would be jockeying for playoff position during this final stretch. But as you know, nothing has been ideal this season.
So it was never really a question of whether they would shut Williamson and McCollum down. It was just a matter of when.
Technically, they shut them down as soon as they started listing Williamson on the injury report with a lower back contusion and McCollum with a foot contusion. But it was Monday when the team made an official announcement that Williamson and McCollum wouldn’t play again this season.
“It was more of a collective talk from the front office, performance and medical (team), and obviously our players,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said after Tuesday’s practice. “They are both dealing with sorta some nagging injuries, so to finish up the season we felt like it was the smart way to go.”
This was a no-brainer for a team that has nothing to play for with just seven games remaining. The Pelicans, who take a 21-54 record into a Wednesday game at the Los Angeles Clippers, are pretty much locked into finishing with one of the four worst records in the NBA. They currently have the fourth-worst record, which would give them about a 12.5% chance of landing the No. 1 pick at the May 12 lottery in Chicago. The teams with the three worst records (the Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets) have a slightly better chance at 14% each.
For the Pelicans and their fans, it’s been another frustrating season. Injuries hit the team left and right, which is why Williamson, McCollum, Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy and Herb Jones will have missed a total of 196 games by the time the season is over in two weeks. The five of them never played a game together. The foursome of Williamson, McCollum, Murphy and Murray played just five games together. They went 2-3 together, including a one-point road loss to the Boston Celtics when a McCollum buzzer beater didn’t fall.
Williamson played in just 30 games this season, just one more than he played two seasons ago. Since being drafted, he's missed more games than he played. Last season, he played in a career-high 70 games. It was a big reason the Pelicans won 49 games, tied for the most in franchise history. The Pelicans went 10-20 this season in game’s Williamson played and 11-34 without him in a year that saw him average a career-best 5.3 assists and tie his career-high in rebounds (7.2)
“There’s no doubt about Z’s ability when he’s on the floor,” Green said. “Everyone got a chance to see it. See him handle the ball, see him play in more pick and rolls as a screener. He was incredible for the games he was on the floor. I think there is no doubt about where he is as a basketball player in terms of his ability on the floor.
"Now the next step for us is going through the summer, getting healthy and re-evaluating our group and going from there.”
The key to it all will be Williamson, who looked to be in the best shape of his career this season.
Williamson missed 27 games with a hamstring injury, then played in 24 of 34 games after returning. Six of the games he missed were because of the Pelicans playing on back-to-back nights.
If it was up to Williamson, he would have played. But those decisions were made by the team’s medical staff, which is being extra cautious with its most critical player. Chances are, similar decisions will have to be made next season.
That’s assuming the Pelicans run it back with Williamson again. He’s too talented not to. The best guess here is the team won’t risk moving on from Williamson and seeing him thrive elsewhere. They will instead keep their fingers crossed that the conditioning they saw this season will spill over into next season.
“We definitely want him to be able to maintain that,” Green said. “That’s a key factor, a key component. He knows it, and it’s something he has to stay committed to.”
While Williamson's season is done, his commitment to the Pelicans and himself must continue.