Zion Williamson

Zion Williamson

22-Year-Old ForwardF
New Orleans Pelicans
Out
Injury Hamstring
Est. Return 3/14/2023
2022 Fantasy Outlook
The brief flashes that we've seen of Williamson have been impressive. He showed he can be a dominant fantasy force during the 2020-21 season, averaging 27.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting 61.1 percent from the field. However, injuries have been a problem. He only appeared in 24 games during his rookie season, 61 during his sophomore campaign, and he didn't play at all last season. It appeared late in the season that he might have been healthy enough to play, and there was speculation that he might try to force his way out of New Orleans at some point. Those worries have been put to rest with him signing a five-year, $231 rookie maximum contract this summer. With big money in hand, all signs point to him being ready to play at the beginning of the season. He'll have the most talented group around him yet, with Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum and Jonas Valanciunas all in the fold. There is plenty of injury concern that comes with drafting him, and he could sit out one game of back-to-back sets to begin the season. If you want him, though, you'll likely need to spend a second or third-round selection to add him to your roster. Read Past Outlooks
$Signed a five-year, $194.3 million contract extension with the Pelicans in July of 2022.
Personal Bio/PreCareer Summary

Zion Lateef Williamson was born in 2000 in Salisbury, North Carolina. Zion's mother Sharonda ran track at Livingstone College, and his stepfather Lee Anderson played basketball at Clemson. Starting at the age of nine, Williamson woke up at 5am daily for basketball training. Williamson attended Spartanburg Day School, a small kindergarten through 12th grade private school in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He could already dunk before the start of his high school freshman season. As a junior, Williamson averaged 36.8 points, 13.0 rebounds, 3.0 steals, and 2.5 blocks per game and led Spartanburg Day to their second straight SCISA Region I-2A title. MaxPreps named Zion National Junior of the Year and also gave him High School All-American First Team honors. Williamson posted similar numbers his senior season and led the Griffins to their third straight title. After the season, he was named South Carolina Mr. Basketball and was runner-up for Mr. Basketball USA. After one season at Duke, Williamson declared for the 2019 NBA Draft and was selected with the first overall pick by the Pelicans. Zion enjoys writing poetry, listening to Jay-Z and watching Naruto. Fans can follow him on Twitter and Instagram (@zionwilliamson). Through a combination of jaw-dropping highlights and excellent production, Williamson owned the 2018-19 college basketball season. The 6-foot-7 forward joined R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish to give Duke the top recruiting class in the nation. Over the season, he averaged 22.6 points (on 68.0 percent shooting), 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.8 blocks. He made his debut against Kentucky in the Champions Classic with 28 points and seven rebounds in the win. Williamson had 14 double-doubles, including a season-high 35 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to Syracuse. He missed the last six games of the regular season after suffering a Grade 1 knee sprain against North Carolina in which his shoe ripped. He returned for the ACC Tournament and averaged 27.0 points and 10.0 rebounds to help the Blue Devils take the championship. Duke advanced to the Elite Eight of The Big Dance and Williamson scored at least 23 points in each NCAA Tournament game. Among his many accolades were AP Player of the Year, ACC Player of the Year, and the Naismith Award. After one season with Duke, Williamson declared for the 2019 NBA Draft and was selected with the first overall pick by the New Orleans Pelicans.

Suffers setback, out indefinitely
FNew Orleans Pelicans
Hamstring
February 12, 2023
Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said Sunday that Williamson aggravated his right hamstring injury and will be sidelined for several more weeks, Christian Clark of The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.
ANALYSIS
Williamson, who last played Jan. 2, had recently progressed to 3-on-3 work in practice and was expected to be re-evaluated during the All-Star break, but he'll now be sidelined at least through the end of February and quite likely the first half of March, if not longer. The 2019 No. 1 overall pick has missed 169 games -- and counting -- while playing in only 114 contests since being drafted. If he doesn't play in at least 12 more games this season, he'll have missed the majority of the regular season in three of his first four NBA campaigns. Injuries have certainly been the prevailing narrative of Williamson's career so far, but when available, he's been nothing short of an All-NBA talent. In his prolonged absence, the seventh-place Pelicans will continue to rely heavily on CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram. Williamson may have a chance to return to action when the fantasy playoffs begin in many leagues, but managers in redraft formats may be better off dropping him in favor of a healthy player in light of his latest setback.
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Average Fantasy Points are determined when Zion Williamson was active vs. non-active during the season. Click here to view average fantasy points for a different time period.
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Youngest All-Star starter this year
FNew Orleans Pelicans
January 27, 2023
Williamson, who's currently out with a hamstring injury, was named an NBA All-Star starter in the Western Conference for the 2022-23 campaign.
ANALYSIS
Williamson earned his first All-Star starter nomination after being a reserve during the 2020-21 campaign and is the youngest of the 10 starters this season. The third-year forward hasn't played since Jan. 2 due to a right hamstring strain and has made only 29 appearances this year, but when available, he's been worthy of dark-horse MVP consideration, posting 26.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.1 steals with 60.8/36.8/71.4 shooting splits. It's unclear when Williamson will return, but the Pelicans may opt to hold him out through the All-Star break in preparation for a potential playoff run.
See All NBA Rumors
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2021
2020
2019
After a brief-but-impressive rookie campaign, Williamson improved enough as a sophomore to make his first All-Star team. The 2019 No. 1 overall pick averaged 27.0 points on an absurd 61.1 percent shooting while tallying 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 33.2 minutes. That resulted in him ranking 50th in fantasy on a per-game basis. There are still clear holes in Williamson's game -- including his poor free-throw shooting (69.8 percent on 8.7 attempts), subpar defense (0.9 steals and 0.6 blocks) and a lack of a three-point shot (0.2 makes on 29.4 percent) -- but he's so dominant as a scorer that those weaknesses aren't holding him down much. Maybe the biggest indicator of how unstoppable he can be is that he was fouled on 22.5 percent of his shot attempts -- the third-highest number last season of players who saw at least 1,000 minutes and notably above Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid. Williamson also improved as the year went on, and his performances began consistently reaching elevated heights in mid-February. For example, in a 25-game stretch from Feb. 12 through April 11, Williamson averaged 29.5 points on 63.3 percent shooting, 7.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists. He also had 21 games with at least 30 points, plus 14 double-doubles. The sky appears to be the limit for Williamson in 2021-22. He'll still be sharing a decent chunk of the offense with Brandon Ingram and new additions Devonte' Graham and Jonas Valanciunas, but the franchise's focus has to be on making sure Williamson is happy in his role. If he can marginally improve, especially as a free-throw shooter and defender, Williamson has clear second-to-third-round upside, which is likely where he'll be drafted.
Due to a torn meniscus suffered in the preseason, Williamson's rookie debut was delayed until Jan. 22 against the Spurs. He had a fantastic performance, posting 22 points, seven rebounds and three assists in just 18 minutes. He saw under 30 minutes for the next four performances, but still averaged 18.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists. For the final 14 games before the hiatus of the season, Williamson saw 31.4 minutes per game and averaged 18.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.0 steals. Early in the bubble, Williamson was underwhelming but saved it towards the end by averaging 24.0 points in 24.7 minutes in his final three appearances. As impressive as his rookie campaign was, it didn't translate the same to fantasy. On a per-game basis in eight-category leagues, Williamson ranked just 91st, making strong contributions in points (22.5) and field-goal percentage (58.3), but failing to stand out elsewhere. He was especially harmful in free-throw percentage, taking 7.4 attempts per game but making just 64.0 percent. That said, if Williamson can make marginal improvements across the board while also playing minutes closer to the mid-30s, he should be able to boost his fantasy stock significantly, despite obvious flaws in his game.
The Pelicans took no chances during the 2019 NBA Draft, selecting Williamson with the No. 1 overall pick. Williamson enters the league as one of the most-hyped prospects in recent memory -- possibly going as far back as LeBron James in 2003. The Duke one-and-done averaged 22.6 points on an absurd 68.0 percent shooting, 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.8 blocks in 33 collegiate games. Williamson will be the focal point of the Pelicans' mini-rebuild in the aftermath of trading Anthony Davis to the Lakers. Williamson is a virtual lock to start from Day 1, though what his true position is at the NBA level remains somewhat of a mystery. At 285 pounds, Williamson has the bulk to play center, but his 6-foot-7 frame suggests he's more of a forward. Complicating things further, Williamson's jumpshot is a clear work in progress, and the Pelicans may have to work to put four floor-spacers around him at all times. What we do know is that he has the potential to be one of the best athletes we've ever seen on the hardwood, and there should be no shortage of gravity-defying dunks, blocks and rebounds. From a fantasy perspective, counting on the rookie to have a high floor as a rebounder, defender and efficient inside scorer seems safe. The other things -- volume scoring, passing, three-point shooting, free-throw percentage -- are cloudy.
More Fantasy News
Officially out through break
FNew Orleans Pelicans
Hamstring
February 8, 2023
Pelicans head coach Willie Green confirmed Tuesday that Williamson (hamstring) will sit out the team's final three games before the All-Star Game and will be re-evaluated during the midseason break, Andrew Lopez of ESPN.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Unlikely to play before break
FNew Orleans Pelicans
Hamstring
February 7, 2023
Williamson (hamstring) is not expected to play before the All-Star break, Will Guillory of The Athletic reports.
ANALYSIS
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Another re-evaluation in two weeks
FNew Orleans Pelicans
Hamstring
January 24, 2023
The Pelicans announced Tuesday that Williamson (hamstring) will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
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Sidelined at least three weeks
FNew Orleans Pelicans
Hamstring
January 3, 2023
Williamson (hamstring) will be re-evaluated in three weeks.
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Facing multi-week absence
FNew Orleans Pelicans
Hamstring
January 3, 2023
Williamson (hamstring) is expected to be sidelined for multiple weeks, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports.
ANALYSIS
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