It’s really been a rotten season for the Pelicans, in all regards. They finished 14th in the West with a 21/61 record, which saw them closing it out with a 7-game losing streak. In contrast, table-topping Thunder achieved more wins at home (35) and away (32) respectively than New Orleans did all season. You could blame the injuries that Zion Williamson and the rest of the gang suffered as the root cause. But the true supporters know that massive upheaval is the only way forward. Although, Zanos aids these rough times by repping the Crescent City at the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery.

New Orleans has a 12.5% chance of winning the No. 1 pick. The actual drawing happens behind closed doors in Chicago under very strict security: no phones or leaks allowed. Each lottery team designates a person—often a star player—to stand onstage and receive the ping-pong balls on behalf of that franchise. Despite all the hate received, Zion is still the face of the organization. And their latest announcement confirms him to be the face of the lottery too.

“Zion will represent the #Pelicans at the @NBA Draft Lottery tonight,” the team wrote in an announcement on Instagram. This genuinely gives the fans to see familiar stars like Zion, Cooper Flagg, Hakeem Olajuwon, etc., participate in the annual ritual.

The Pelicans battle the rest of the bottom dwellers for a potential Cooper Flagg pick. Utah, Washington and Charlotte have the best odds, 14% each. But New Orleans can’t finish below eighth, so that gives them a big boost in the lottery. Their last #1 pick was Zion Williamson himself – and we all know how that turned out. Let’s hope their next potential will pay more dividends than Zanos did.

He ended up playing just 30 games this season, due to that cursed left hamstring of his. And even though he did bring in numbers like 24.6/7.2/5.1 shooting 56.7% from the field, his unreliability has put his name on the trade market. So, where will he go? For any of the current superstars on the move this window (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant and Zion), the most obvious suspects are the Houston Rockets. But despite all their trade capital and luxury in picks, they view Williamson not to be worth the hassle.

Houston Rockets view Zion Williamson to be ‘too risky’

“This is a huge offseason for everybody,” said Rockets coach Ime Udoka after their 4-3 loss to the Warriors in round 1 of the playoffs. And with the assets at their disposal, they’ll be the talk of the time come the draft. With Durant and Giannis, they’re getting proven ringwinners and guaranteed Hall of Famers. But with Zion? It’s just expensive guest appearances.

He’s just played 45% of the possible games, and none of them are playoff appearances. The fact that this is the case despite the Pelicans reaching the postseason three times since his arrivalsays the full story. Williamson’s career averages are impressive- with 24.7 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 4.3 APG. He even has two All-Star appearances to go with it. But all that’s come at a cost.

Zion’s earned $151,217,941 till 2025. If you crunch the numbers a little bit, that’s about $703,340 per appearance, which have just been 215 of till date. Last season was the only time he’d even crossed 70 appearances during a season – which is the main cause of the Rockets’ hesitation.

Zion Williamson repping the Pelicans at the Draft Lottery will bring a fair few smiles at the Crescent City. It bodes well if your star player is out in public, showing his desire to still play for the organization that brought him into the NBA. But he’s too much of a cost to bear for his reliability issues. And that’s why the Rockets shilly-shally.