Zion Williamson’s Return To Exceed Projected Timeline

A little birdie was quick to correct TNT analyst Reggie Miller when he speculated during a New Orleans Pelicans broadcast that Zion Williamson might miss his entire rookie campaign but little clarity has been provided since.

As Scott Kushner of The Times-Picayune reports, we’re now six weeks into the original six-to-eight week timeline and the team has been mum about a projected return date.

When Miller, courtside at a Pels game, opined that Williamson may be out for the entire 2019-20 campaign, he was promptly informed that the 2019 NBA Draft’s first-overall pick was on pace to meet the initially forecast return window.

Miller relayed the correction on television and we’ve awaited further details since.

Now, TNT’s Kristen Ledlow is reporting that, while Williamson has turned a corner in his rehabilitation, his return will definitely come outside of the six-to-eight week window. That means hoops fans won’t see the rookie in action until the second half of December or later.

Williamson has been working his way back to game shape after knee surgery to correct a torn meniscus in October.

ESPN’s Marc J. Spears reported last week that the forward had begun working out and bearing partial weight but that he hadn’t yet been cleared for contact.