At the beginning of the regular season this season, when the Lakers were 2-10, the first place in the West was the Pelicans. At that time, many American media ridiculed the Lakers: help the Pelicans compete for Wenbanyama (the Pelicans have first-round picks in the thick-eyed trade). But the regular season ended, the play-offs began, and the Lakers finally defeated the Timberwolves to lock the No. 7 seed in the West, and the first Pelicans in the West at that time had been eliminated by the Thunder, and the season ended. After the Pelicans regretted to be out, many fans and media targeted Zion, and even some media ridiculed that perhaps Zion could represent the Pelicans in next year's playoffs. Regarding Zion, the former superchampion, we have listed a complete timeline according to the news. I suddenly found that Zion's current experience is so similar to Leonard in the past.
Just before the Pelicans and Thunder game, Zion said in an interview: "The main thing that hindered my return was that I had to overcome the mental barrier of my injury. There are times when I still feel hesitant to do some movements. I didn't want to play until I actually changed back to Zion. Zion's remarks were intended to counter some of the skepticism in the local New Orleans media. Zion's last appearance for the Pelicans was back in early January against the 76ers, where Zion had 26 points, six rebounds and seven assists, followed by a hamstring injury. In the past 3 months, the Pelicans have officially given several key time nodes in a row: after the All-Star Weekend, mid-March, early April, and mid-April. Simply put, the Pelicans have always wanted Zion to play to help the team this season.
In the 29 games Zion has played this season, the Pelicans have a 17-12 record, which is indeed good, and the win rate is also the top three in the West. But there are two key issues, one of which is that some American media revealed that the management refused to return Zion when the team doctor allowed him to play! The Pelicans then officially denied this claim, saying that the Pelicans did not expect much from Zion's comeback (before the playoffs); Second, Zion himself was reluctant to play because his camp (the team of agents behind the scenes) did not want Zion to risk a comeback. Of course, during this period, Zion is indeed recovering, and even after entering April, he can dunk in practice, can be 3v3, but just can't play. So was Zion too badly injured, or was his team doing it on purpose? That starts with Zion's injury history when he entered the league.
Since joining the league, Zion has spent more than half of his time on the bench. In the 19-20 season, the meniscus tore and he missed 44 games. 20-21 season, broken finger + sprained finger + toe injury, missed 10 games. Direct season reimbursement for fractures of the right foot in the 21-22 season; He played only 29 games this season with a hamstring injury. After four years of rookie contract, he played a total of 114 games, averaging 28 games per season. One thing is for sure, Zion's talent is indeed there, entering the second year of the league can average 27 points + 7.2 rebounds + 3.7 assists per game, this season also averaged 26 points + 7 rebounds + 4.6 assists per game, and from shooting to tank crushing layups, there are almost no obvious shortcomings. But his physical condition is very worrying. And the Pelicans management's attitude towards Zion: holding it in the mouth is afraid of melting, holding it in the hand for fear of falling.
Last summer, on Zion's 22nd birthday, the Pelicans gave Zion a 5-year, $193 million contract extension, with some upgrade clauses, up to $231 million for 5 years! But is Zion's state worthy of a large contract with an average annual level of 40 million? It's reminiscent of Leonard when he was at the Spurs. Many fans also believe that Leonard left the Spurs because of Pachuria's footing. It's not. After fully recovering from his ankle injury, the quadriceps injury left him on indefinite suspension. And when the Spurs medical team believed that Leonard had recovered his health, the Leonard team insisted that the younger card could not play, and also secretly traveled to New York to seek other forms of medical help, which angered the Spurs. Leonard has also played with injuries, and the Spurs have a history of forcing injured players on the court.
From the perspective of the team behind the players, Zion, like Leonard, is not willing to let their players risk unless they are completely healed from injury + fully recovered physically. But what is different between Zion and Leonard is that although Leonard had a stiff fight with the team in the last year of the Spurs, Leonard won FMVP in both the Spurs and the Raptors, leading the Raptors to the first championship trophy in team history. Zion, who is just entering the fourth year of the league, is already physically unable to hold on, and is already on the opposite side of the team. There is also a point worth pondering, Pelicans general manager David Griffin's preamble and logic confusion regarding Zion's injury. Simply put, Zion's agent team has drawn a line with Pelicans management: when a player is healthy, he belongs to the team, but if there is a little injury, the injury news is directly blocked.
There is no doubt that Zion's talent is undoubted, but today's Zion is gradually reduced to parallel goods. It's not that his strength is not enough, but his physical condition, unable to lead the team efficiently for a long time, which is no different from some of the parallel goods who entered the league in the past. Experiencing major injuries almost every year, from knees to hamstrings, foot injuries to hand injuries, at the end of the day, his weight has become the biggest shortcoming that limits his ability to be a first-line star. In my opinion, the Pelicans are better off long and short pain, find an opportunity to send Zion away, otherwise Zion will always be a drag on the team.