Zion Williamson DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

New Orleans Pelicans forward/center Zion Williamson hasn't seen any success during his time in Louisiana, leaving his future murky, but he remains an integral part of the team's plans. According to NBA insider Marc Stein, the Pelicans' newly-hired president of basketball operations, Joe Dumars, wants to "make things work with Williamson as the team's centerpiece." New Orleans has aimed to build around Williamson ever since drafting him in 2019 as the No. 1 pick, but his availability is a significant concern. The 24-year-old has never played more than 70 games in a single NBA season and was limited to just 30 appearances in 2024-25. When healthy, Williamson can be a fantasy beast, but history has shown that managers can't count on that.

According to ESPN's Shams Charania, New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (back) will be shut down for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign. The 24-year-old averaged 24.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.2 steals this season. However, after appearing in a career-high 70 games in 2023-24, he logged only 30 games this season. It's unknown what the future holds for the former Duke Blue Devil as it relates to his time in New Orleans. But even if he ends up elsewhere next season, he'll need to prove he can stay healthy before earning the trust of fantasy managers. Until then, Williamson's presence on any fantasy roster is a risk. CJ McCollum (foot), Trey Murphy III (shoulder), and Dejounte Murray (Achilles) have already been sidelined, so Jose Alvarado, Kelly Olynyk, Bruce Brown, and Jordan Hawkins (back) should be in charge of most of the scoring duties the rest of the way.

New Orleans Pelicans forwardZion Williamson(back) won't play on Monday against the Philadelphia 76ers. Williamson will be out of action for the third consecutive contest due to a back contusion. The 24-year-old is one of seven Pelicans listed as unavailable for tonight's contest. Yves Missi (hip) could also be sidelined, as he is listed as questionable due to right hip soreness. The Pelicans won't be making the postseason, so how much Williamson will play during the final 10 regular season games is unclear. Kelly Olynyk, Jose Alvarado,Jordan Hawkins and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl will likely have heavy workloads this evening with so many Pelicans on the shelf.