Simmons is far from a perfect fit in New Orleans for a multitude of reasons, but he's an available star on a long-term contract. The longer Williamson sits out and the more the losses mount, the greater the need for change. But the idea here is to find teams that 'need to trade' for Simmons most, and the Pelicans fit that criteria more snugly by the day. But how can anyone believe that version of Zion will ever play for the Pelicans? This is a risk-mitigation play for New Orleans, one that would be complicated by some tricky salary-matching work in any hypothetical swap built around Simmons and Williamson. Without question, the fully healthy and committed version of Williamson is more promising and exciting than Simmons. But at least he's been part of some playoff teams and, other than his lost rookie season, has been in shape and healthy for most of his career.

The significant swath of Louisianans who are still disenchanted by his checked-out work at LSU would have a lot to say about it, but Ben Simmons suddenly makes more sense than ever for the New Orleans Pelicans.Īnd yes, this is a wild, panicked overreaction to the Zion Williamson situation.Ĭall me a pessimist, but the combination of Zion's family's reported discontent, his conspicuously poor conditioning, the franchise's mismanaged messaging around his latest injury and the fact that he's missed so much time already makes it feel like-for one reason or another-Williamson is not going to be the win-generating superstar face of this franchise.

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