If Zion Williamson has finally left his injuries behind him, some New Orleans players now seem to be taking over. A Monstar teammate will thus spend a lot of time in the infirmary… He could completely miss a quarter of the season.
Pelicans fans can gloat, Zion Williamson is finally back. The big man superstar of the Bayou is again in good health and even in Olympic form, since he appears thinner than ever since this offseason. With him, New Orleans can hope to do even better than last season and go beyond the stage of the first round of the playoffs… Provided that the roster is complete, which seems to have started off very badly.
Indeed, the group of Willie Green must already deal with absences, while the regular season is about to resume its rights. In the racket, it is Jaxon Hayes who will have to take his troubles patiently, he who hoped to become a starter by overtaking Jonas Valanciunas in the rotation. But because of a problem with his elbow, he is now stuck in the infirmary, as revealed by the very well informed insider Marc Stein:
Jaxon Hayes out of NOLA for a while?
The Pelicans say Jaxson Hayes is out at least two weeks after sustaining a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow during Friday’s preseason game against Detroit.
More NBA from me: https://t.co/LGN9cVpMwn
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) October 8, 2022
The Pelicans say Jaxson Hayes is out for at least two weeks after suffering a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow in Friday’s preseason game against Detroit.
Two weeks is not a lot and the pivot could therefore be back quickly in these conditions. Except that this prognosis from Stein may be far too optimistic, as a surfer recalled in response to his post. Because this injury is not unknown to the NBA public since a Clippers star suffered it in 2021-22… and his absence was much longer than a fortnight. We can therefore seriously worry:
A torn UCL is relatively uncommon in the NBA but the injury did sideline Paul George for 43 games (96 days) last season. The average number of missed games for confirmed UCL sprains in the NBA is about 20 games (~46 days) https://t.co/IXmt4RRFPC
—Jeff Stotts (@InStreetClothes) October 8, 2022
A torn ulnar collateral ligament is relatively rare in the NBA, but the injury sidelined Paul George for 43 games (96 days) last season. The average number of games missed for confirmed UCL sprains in the NBA is approximately 20 games (roughly 46 days).
Result, it is Valanciunas who should start again at position 5, while the young big man misses an opportunity to showcase himself more. This is frustrating.
A few days before the resumption of the regular season, it is therefore Jaxon Hayes who finds himself on the floor and the duration of his absence is still rather unclear. So the whole Pelicans fanbase must be praying that Zion Williamson stays healthy this time around.