Pelicans News: Zion Williamson Could Make his Debut against Utah Jazz

Published 01/13/2020, 2:16 PM EST

The 2019 NBA Draft’s first overall pick Zion Williamson is finally set to make his NBA debut after a long injury lay-off.

Zion showed glimpses of getting closer to his debut on Friday when he was seen hitting jumpers and making dunks prior to the game against New York Knicks. A between the legs dunk during that session at Madison Square Garden seemed to give a feeling his return wasn’t far away.

Zion wins today’s between the legs dunk contest.
Pels staffers gotta do 20 push ups. pic.twitter.com/29LU4iE7G0
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) January 10, 2020

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The latest reports suggest that his return is indeed very near. As per Mitch Lawrence of Sirius XMNBA Radio, Zion Williamson is set to make his NBA debut on Thursday when the New Orleans Pelicans play Utah Jazz.

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Williamson’s debut was one of the most exciting prospects prior to the start of the 2019/20 NBA season. However, a knee injury has kept him away from the start of the season. After impressing in his one year of college basketball with the Duke, Zion was the first overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Prior to a much anticipated NBA debut, he missed the final pre-season game for the Pelicans in what was then called a “right knee soreness.” However, it turned out to be much worse and kept him out for a few months.

Zion being just 19-years old, the Pelicans also did not try to rush him in. It was reported that the team also took care of his diet and were making sure he does not have future injury worries.

Zion Williamson could start, but with limited minutes

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Williamson would now be a welcome addition to a team currently struggling near the bottom of the league. It might still, however, take a little more time before Zion starts playing a good number of minutes, at least according to the Pelicans coach.

“He’s making progress,” Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry said of Zion Williamson after their game against Knicks, as per ESPN. “He’s practicing. He’s playing 5-on-5. We’re trying to gauge exactly when it would be a good situation to put him out there. Even when we do, it’ll be very limited minutes to start.”