Report: Pelicans bracing for extended Zion absence

The New Orleans Pelicans expect to be without Zion Williamson for a while.

The Pelicans believe Williamson will be sidelined for at least four-to-six weeks due to a hamstring strain, but the timeline could extend further as he has rehabilitated the same injury before, ESPN's Shams Charania reports.

Williamson has undergone multiple treatments on his hamstring, but he's still not close to returning to the court.

The 24-year-old has played in six of the Pelicans' 16 contests, averaging 22.7 points, eight rebounds, and 5.3 assists.

Coming into the campaign, team officials believed that Williamson was in the best shape of his career. The 2019 first overall pick has missed 210 out of a possible 400 regular-season contests, including the final 45 games of the 2022-23 campaign - which he missed because of a hamstring issue.

The Pelicans have dealt with a multitude of injuries to key players - including Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III, and Jose Alvarado.

New Orleans sits 14th in the Western Conference with a 4-12 record.