Reports: Former No. 1 overall pick not expected to return this NBA season, continues rehab for his fractured foot

New Orleans Pelicans superstar Zion Williamson will miss the remainder of the season, according to NBA insider Shams Charania of The Athletic. Williamson is recovering from foot surgery before the season.

Williamson is a fundamental piece in the franchise's future. It's not that surprising that the front office is proceeding cautiously with his recovery process while the team fights for a spot in the play-in tournament.

When healthy, Zion can match up to the best in the league.

The 21-year-old forward averaged 27.0 points and was an All-Star last season, when he played 66 games. He missed the final six games with a fractured left ring finger. He said he suffered a fracture in his foot in August before the start of the Summer League. Williamson also missed the first 44 games of his rookie season with a torn meniscus in his right knee.

According to Charania, Williamson is not expected to return despite making progress towards on-court work. Considering that he is eligible for a contract extension this offseason, it is not much of a surprise that the team shut him down, keeping their future in mind. Williamson has played 85 games in his first three seasons.

The Pelicans (30-41) are in a tricky spot. They can either give it their all and make the playoffs via the play-in tournament or focus on their long-term plans. The team has said for months that their goal, with or without Williamson, was to make the postseason. New Orleans has been in the playoffs just twice in the past 10 years.

Their future, at some point, might involve losing their franchise star due to a lack of team success.

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Can the New Orleans Pelicans make the playoffs without Zion Williamson

New Orleans Pelicans big man Zion Williamson

The New Orleans Pelicans and LA Lakers are both 30-41, but the Pelicans hold the tiebreaker for the ninth seed. That's because the Pels won the only meeting so far, 123-95 on Feb. 27 in Los Angeles. The teams meet twice more: March 27 and April 1.

The ninth and 10th seeds have to win two play-in games to reach the playoffs, while the seventh or eighth seed needs to win just once. The winner of the Seven-Eight Game gets the seventh seed in the playoffs.

The ninth seed will host the Nine-Ten Game of the play-in tournament. The loser of the Seven-Eight Game will then host the winner of the Nine-Ten Game.

The winner of that game will earn the No. 8 seed and take on the No. 1 seed, likely the Phoenix Suns (58-14) in the first round of the playoffs.

The Pels and Lakers are five games behind the eighth-place LA Clippers (36-37) with 11 games to play. Only an unlikely, magical run would allow either to catch the Clippers at this point. However, the Clippers have lost three in a row and six of their past eight games after a 7-1 stretch.

The Pelicans and Lakers are 2.5 games ahead of the 11th-place San Antonio Spurs (28-44) for the last play-in spot.

If the Nine-Ten Game was played today, it would not be difficult to see the Lakers bow to a New Orleans squad without Zion Williamson and inferior on paper.

However, the Lakers still have LeBron James and Russell Westbrook, with Anthony Davis yet to return. So, it would be difficult to see the Pelicans get past a healthy, full-strength Lakers squad even with Williamson. Despite C.J. McCollum and Brandon Ingram playing at a high level, the Pelicans lack the Lakers' playoff experience. This would be a massive advantage for LA if the teams meet in the Nine-Ten Game.

However, if the Lakers manage to overtake their crosstown rivals, the Clippers seem more challenging for the Pels. That would be especially true if Kawhi Leonard and Paul George return from injuries on time.

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue recently said he'd only play either in the playoffs if they were back in time for some regular-season games. The Clippers have 10 games remaining. Their last game is on April 10.

This would be a great accomplishment for coach Willie Green if New Orleans makes the playoffs without its best player.

Don't be surprised if C.J. has a huge game and New Orleans manages to pull off a heist.