As much as it pains me to say it, Zion Williamson will miss the remainder of Summer League play, on direct orders from the Pelicans' Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin. For added context: Zion Williamson was yanked from a contest vs. the Knicks after a knee-on-knee collision with an opposing player. The Pelicans haven't given the league official any indication Williamson has suffered a debilitating injury of any kind.
And yet, the organization has elected to air on the side of caution, rather than risk his health in scrimmages of the like. It's true, players entering next season without a guaranteed contract can leverage a strong Summer League performance into a roster spot - but that's hardly the profile of a player of Zion's stature: entering his rookie campaign with the weight of a middling NBA franchise on his shoulders.
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Zion will move forward from this incident without issue," David Griffin wrote in the Pelicans' official disclaimer via Twitter. "However, in an abundance of caution, we have made the determination that he will not appear in game action for the remainder of the NBA Summer League. He will continue to take part in training and conditioning with our performance team."
Needless to say, Zion Williamson was able to wow the onlookers in limited playing time (two days ago vs. Knicks). With Williamson ruled out of the contest in the early going, the role of sparking the Pels to victory fell on 2nd-year point guard Frank Jackson and his 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for R.J. Barrett on the opposing side of the court, his 10-point contribution falling short of expectation. The game ended: Knicks 74 - 80 Pelicans FT.
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