There will be a wait before seeing the No. 1 draft pick on the court this season. Zion Williamson “is expected to miss a period of weeks to start the regular season,” according to ESPN.
Adrian Wojnarowski reported Friday morning that the New Orleans Pelican and former Duke star does not have a severe right knee injury, but that the Pelicans “are clearly treating the injury with an abundance of caution,” adding that “there’s no shortage of confidence on full recovery.”
Williamson did not travel with the Pelicans to New York and the team announced Thursday that he is out for Saturday’s preseason finale versus the Knicks with “right knee soreness.”
In four preseason games, the betting favorite for the 2019-2020 NBA Rookie of the Year award averaged 23.3 points (shooting 71.4 percent) with 6.5 rebounds. Williamson averaged 27.3 minutes a game.
The 6-foot-7, 284-pound forward suffered a knee sprain in his right knee during his lone college season after he blew out his tennis shoe early in Duke’s home game versus North Carolina last season.
Williamson missed three weeks, then returned during the ACC Tournament and was named tournament MVP.
