Zion won’t return in time for play-in, Griffin says

METAIRIE, La. — New Orleans Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said that Zion Williamson will not practice with the team on Saturday and would not play in any play-in tournament games next week if the Pelicans are still in the play-in.

Griffin, speaking to local media on Friday, said the team would like for Williamson to go through some practices before returning from a hamstring injury he suffered on Jan. 2.

“I would say that if you just look at like, the logistics of where we’re at, it’s not possible to get the work in that would put him in a five-on-five workout in time for any play in,” Griffin said. “I think based on today, our best possible outcome would be if everything lined up perfectly, maybe you’re in a position to practice prior to a first-round [series] or maybe during a first-round [series].

“But it’s gonna take more than one, right? So it’s really hard. And again, we may never get to that point either. If it’s not a situation where all those things align and he feels the way he needs to feel, then we’re not gonna let him go to the next phase.”

The Pelicans are set to practice on Saturday in Minneapolis ahead of Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but Williamson won’t go live, Griffin said.

New Orleans has guaranteed themselves at least the No. 9 seed in the West play-in tournament but could climb out of the tournament altogether depending on the results of this weekend’s games.

One day after Griffin released a statement saying that Williamson was going to “continue his rehabilitation and conditioning regimen,” he expanded on those comments saying there were certain things that had to align before the team would clear Williamson to return from the right hamstring strain that has kept him out of action for over three months.

“I think it’s just a matter of all of the objective metrics we can have on where he is at and how he feels lining up. And to this point, they haven’t,” Griffin said. “So if they had, we certainly would’ve said, ‘OK, he’s cleared for five on five,’ and they don’t.

“It’s complicated and yet it’s really not. It’s when these things converge, it can advance to the next step. And they just haven’t converged for him to do that.”

When asked to clarify the metrics, Griffin said it’s things the team can measure in the weight room in terms of strength and flexibility as well as on-court speed.

“Then his reaction and the way he feels after each exercise,” Griffin said. “When he feels like him, he’ll tell us, ‘Yeah, I’m ready for the next phase.’ And to this stage, he hasn’t felt like that.”

Williamson had progressed to three-on-three work, but Griffin said it didn’t make sense in the next day or so that the next progression made any sense.

“He hasn’t been quote, re-injured. He’s never even reported soreness. It’s more like a hesitancy you can see,” Griffin said. “I think we went through this before with Brandon Ingram, when he said, when I feel like me, I’ll play. You can see when somebody is trusting it and confident and he’s not in that space right now.”

Williamson has only played in 29 games this season. He injured his hamstring originally during a game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Jan. 2. Williamson suffered a setback in early February when trying to return and re-injured the hamstring at that point.

Currently, at 41-39, the Pelicans can finish no worse than the No. 9 seed and will have a shot to make the playoffs through the play-in tournament like they did last season. New Orleans is currently tied for seventh with the Los Angeles Lakers and is a game behind the LA Clippers and Golden State Warriors, who both are 42-38.

New Orleans hosts the New York Knicks on Friday night in the final regular season home game at the Smoothie King Center. The Knicks will be without Jalen Brunson (right hand injury maintenance) and Mitchell Robinson (rest). RJ Barrett is questionable with an illness.

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