Fortunately for the Pelicans, Brandon Ingram recently returned to the lineup and moved back above .500 at 29-28. They currently sit in seventh place in the Western Conference.
Williamson was having a stellar season for the Pelicans before he went down. He was averaging 26 points per game and a career-high 4.6 assists for a Pelicans team that, at one point, held the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. With Ingram having emerged as a legitimate secondary star and C.J. McCollum onboard after last season's trade deadline, the healthy Pelicans were positioned to compete for a championship as soon as this season.
They still might, but the longer Williamson remains sidelined, the more precarious their situation appears. He missed all of last season and most of his rookie season due to injuries, and durability will likely remain a serious concern for the rest of Williamson's career. He is one of the NBA's most explosive scorers, but given his body type and explosiveness, the Pelicans are going to have to work hard to keep him on the floor.