Zion Williamson near NBA return as he’s upgraded to ‘questionable’ vs. Wolves

After missing two months of action due to a left hamstring strain, it seems like Zion Williamson might finally make his way back to the NBA courts this week. The Pelicans announced this Monday that their star player has been upgraded to questionable for Tuesday’s home clash against the Timberwolves. 

After a poor start of the 2024-25 campaign, this might just be what the New Orleans team have been missing so far. The 24-year-old hasn’t played since a November 6 loss to the Cavaliers, meaning he’s missed out on his team’s past 27 matches, which have meant 7-29 for the Louisiana team.

As the player returned to training drills last week, his coach Willie Green revealed that the player still isn’t participating in full practice with the rest of the squad, but has improved greatly since the start of 2025. “He’s entered the return-to-play conditioning phase and will join full practice soon,” said the Pelicans tactician.

Zion Williamson's highly anticipated return from his hamstring injury could be the spark the Pelicans need to turn their season around. 🏀

🔥 Can Zion lead New Orleans to playoff glory and silence the doubters once and for all?https://t.co/eLMfk15lb1

— Sport Direct 24 (@SportDirect24) January 7, 2025

Williamson has endured an injury-plagued career so far in the NBA, ever since he was picked as the No. 1 pick of the 2019 Draft. Over five and a half seasons, the forward has played only 190 games and holds career averages of 24.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists per contest.

Zion most persistent injury has involved his hamstring, which also sidelined him for the last 45 games of the 2022-23 campaign. The young star had been selected as an All-Star for a second time that year, and then came back last season to play a career-high 70 games, but then exited during a play-in contest.

Most league experts concur that Brandon Ingram will be one of the players to be traded out before the deadline, as many teams have showed interest and Pelicans have set a price

According to NBA insider Tim Bontemps, despite the ‘stiffness’ of the current market, there is one player he feels that almost for certain will be traded out during this window. The most significant athlete on the move could be New Orleans forward Brandon Ingram, who has fallen to injury again at the start of this season.

The Pelicans are currently holding the worst record in the league (7-29), while Brandon is approaching unrestricted free agency. The team is in a position in which they “cannot afford to be picky,” as said by ESPN’s Kevin Pelton.

“Anything better than what the Pelicans could get this summer in a sign-and-trade would still be a win, given their payroll issues going forward,” he wrote, while colleague Michael Wright added: “Multiple teams are reportedly showing interest, but they’ll likely wait to see how he looks returning from injury, and they’ll want to be certain he’s ready for the second half of the season.”