Is Zion Williamson's time in New Orleans nearing its end? 'I could be traded ... that’s just the realism of it'

Yaron WeitzmanWed, April 1, 2026 at 2:41 PM UTC

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On March 1, the New Orleans Pelicans took the floor without Zion Williamson. Normally, this wouldn’t be worth highlighting. NBA star misses game isn’t exactly a rare headline these days, and Williamson isn’t exactly known as an ironman.

Except that, leading up to that night, Williamson had played in 35 straight games, a career-best streak. He returned two days later and, despite playing for a Pelicans squad stuck in the Western Conference cellar, hasn’t missed a game since. In a season defined by star players missing games, Williamson — who has played in 59 of the Pelicans’ 76 contests— has, against all odds, become the exception to the rule.

Which brings us to what could be one of the offseason’s most fascinating subplots.

(Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

Only nine months ago, the Pelicans made one of the most aggressive — and, well, questionable — moves in recent draft history. It wasn’t just that the team’s new front office, led by longtime executives Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver, decided to send the 23rd pick and an unprotected 2026 first-rounder to the Atlanta Hawks to move up to No. 13. It was that they did so to grab Maryland forward Derik Queen, a talented but no-defense 6-foot-9 big with an iffy shooting stroke. Or, put another way: Dumars and Weaver seemingly staked their jobs on a prospect who, at best, projects as a tricky fit alongside Williamson.

The Pelicans tried playing the pair together earlier this season, but the results were so disastrous — a statistical profile resembling that of the tanking Washington Wizards — that interim head coach James Borrego has essentially mothballed the combination. That the Pelicans, after a 15-41 start, have gone 10-10 since the All-Star break is, in the eyes of some members of the organization, not a coincidence.

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To this point, according to a source close to Williamson, neither Williamson nor anyone in his camp has been given any indication that his time in New Orleans is nearing an end (both Dumars and Weaver declined interview requests). And yet, the awkward fit with Queen, combined with how deeply Dumars and Weaver are now invested in his success — the 2026 pick the Pelicans owe Atlanta as part of the Queen trade currently has a 32% chance of landing in the top four of a draft that scouts say features a loaded class — has many executives around the league assuming that Williamson, who is extension-eligible this offseason, will soon be on the market.

Williamson is aware of the situation.

“New Orleans is home for me. It’s where I want to be,” he said in a recent interview with Yahoo Sports when asked whether he thinks his time with the Pelicans is winding down. “But at the end of the day, if we're going to be realistic about it, the NBA is a business. I could be traded in the offseason, or I could be traded before [next season’s] trade deadline.”

“Not that I want that to happen,” he added. “But that’s just the realism of it.”

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Source: “AOL Sports”