Zion Williamson 2023-24 NBA Fantasy Outlook: Projecting the Pelicans All-Star’s performance this season

New Orleans Pelicans star forward Zion Williamson is widely regarded as one of the brightest young talents in the NBA. However, despite being just 23 years old, injury concerns have made the two-time All-Star one of the riskiest targets in NBA fantasy drafts.

Since being drafted No. 1 in the 2019 NBA draft, Williamson has played in just 114 career games. This includes him missing the entire 2021-22 season due to a foot injury. Williamson then followed that up by playing in just 29 games last season (2022-23) after dealing with a lingering hamstring injury.

Now, entering the 2023-24 season, Williamson appears to be healthy and showed flashes of brilliance in the preseason. However, questions remain surrounding whether he can get back to his All-Star form and maintain that level of play for a full season.

Last season, Williamson averaged 26.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.6 blocks, 3.4 turnovers and 0.2 3-pointers in 33.0 minutes per game over 29 games. He did so while shooting a hyper-efficient 60.8% and 71.4% at the free-throw line.

Williamson’s efficient scoring, rebounding, assists and steals are all extremely valuable in 9-category fantasy leagues. However, his high turnovers, lack of 3-point shooting and poor free-throw shooting percentage limit his overall value. This, combined with his injury history, has made him start to slip outside of the Top 50 in most fantasy drafts.

Yahoo! Sports’ fantasy expert Dan Titus has Williamson ranked as the 56th-best player in his 9-category fantasy draft rankings. This placement feels fair given the risk associated with the star forward. However, if you feel confident that Williamson will stay healthy this season, you may want to reach for him a little earlier. Likewise, if you are still worried about his health, it makes sense to avoid drafting Williamson entirely.

How did Zion Williamson fare in the preseason?

New Orleans Pelicans star forward Zion Williamson

Fortunately for New Orleans Pelicans fans, Zion Williamson was able to suit up in all four of the team’s 2023-24 preseason games. The star forward played limited minutes; however, he was still the Pelicans’ most productive player.

Williamson averaged a team-best 12.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.8 apg, 1.3 spg, 0.5 bpg, 2.3 tpg and 0.0 3pg in 19.4 mpg. He did so on 56.7% shooting while shooting 73.7% at the line.

These are pretty solid numbers in under 20 mpg. Williamson now just needs to keep up this level of play while playing over 30 mpg in the regular season. If he can do so while staying healthy, he should get back to being a valuable fantasy asset this season.