New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson's 2026 season: Unpacking his surprising durability, offensive stagnation, and a solid grade despite lingering concerns.
The New Orleans Pelicans' season did not go as planned, but it was an interesting year for almost all of the players (for better or worse). There were some surprises, some let-downs and a whole lot of information to unpack before building next year's team.
To better understand the team as a whole, it's important to break everything down to the individual level. Here's a look at what went well, what went wrong and an overall grade for Pelicans star Zion Williamson's 2026 campaign:
What Went Well
It doesn't take much searching to find the biggest positive for Williamson's 2026. He played in 62 games, which is the second-most in his career. He worked his way to playing in a career-high 35 straight games in response to missing a couple of weeks with an oblique injury.
While the offensive production was a little bit lower than previous years, it was worth it to see him stay healthy and gain confidence in playing through smaller issues.
What Went Wrong
That lowered offensive production isn't even the worst part of his offensive season; it was how he went about getting his 21.0 points a night. Williamson still refuses to expand his offensive game. Remaining a one-level scorer has had a huge negative impact, sort of outweighing just how efficient he is sometimes.
Williamson already mentioned that finally expanding his offensive bag is one of his big offseason goals. He practices the shots all the time in practice and has been said to even pull them off in scrimmages, but just hasn't pulled the trigger enough outside of the paint in games.
Overall Grade - B+
Even at his lowest in his career almost across the board, Williamson still gave the team 21.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.0 steal a night while shooting 60% from the field and a career-best 71.6% from the charity stripe.
There is a reason that it is so hard to give up on Williamson. When he's at his best, he's one of the most fun players in the league to watch. His defensive effort was up as well. The lowered usage rate could also have been a reason why he stayed healthy.
What's Next?
Williamson took a ton of steps forward last season, making it harder for the team to give up on him. It looks as though Joe Dumars and co. will remain committed to building around him. He can help them out by at least finding some mid-range element to his game and making defense have to guess about how he'll attack them.
He's just going to be 26 next season, which feels overlooked at times. Still plenty of time for him to improve and he is doing just that as he enters what should be his prime years.