Pelicans: Zion Williamson remains the centerpiece of future plans

Zion Williamson remains the focal point of the Pelicans’ plans, despite his extensive injury history. Executive VP of basketball operations David Griffin said during a lengthy press conference that he’ll continue to build his team around the high-scoring big man, the Associated Press’ Brett Martel relays.

“If you take just his body of work this year, what he’s done for us when he’s been healthy, he’s taking steps every day and he’s grown by leaps and bounds, both on the court and off,” Griffin said. “The player he is now is better than he’s ever been.”

Williamson has averaged 23.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 17 games. He’s missed 36 games, mainly due to a hamstring injury.

Griffin indicated that Williamson has embraced his role as a team leader. Williamson still has three years left on his $197.2M contract and Griffin feels like his best years are about to come. Griffin added that some of Williamson’s injuries were “flukish” and “unavoidable.”

“People mature at different rates in the league, and sometimes that maturity looks like a brushfire and sometimes it looks like a forest fire,” Griffin said. “I think he’s reaching forest-fire status now — and that’s exciting.”

Confronted with salary cap issues, Griffin chose to deal his other starting forward, Brandon Ingram, who agreed on Tuesday to a three-year extension with his new team, Toronto.

“We reached a point where financially we weren’t going to be able to keep the group together as we were constructed,” Griffin said.

Here’s more from Griffin’s presser:

• The Pelicans have won just 12 games, mainly due to injuries. Griffin admits he needs to find more durable players. “We need to get better just in terms of our ability to build a more available roster,” Griffin said. “Obviously, that’s something we’ve failed at to this point.”
• Along those lines, Griffin will look to add size and toughness to the roster, Will Guillory of The Athletic tweets. “We’re one of the worst rebounding teams of the last 15 years in the NBA. It doesn’t take a great deal for me to tell you we need to get bigger and more physical. I think that’s fairly obvious. … Our ability to make shots around ball-dominant play creators is important (as well),” he said.
• He indicated that he’s open to retaining Bruce Brown and Kelly Olynyk, who were acquired from the Raptors, beyond their current deals. Brown is headed to unrestricted free agency, while Olynyk has another year on his contract “This is not viewed as a short term situation with either player in our minds. And we hope as the season unfolds, they grow to feel the same about us,” Griffin said, per Rod Walker of NOLA.com. Brown told Walker he’d appreciate some stability. “I’ve been on six teams in seven years, so I’m tired of moving,” Brown said. “So I want to find a home. If this is the place, this is the place.”
• ICYMI, Griffin indicated forward Herbert Jones will likely miss the rest of the season due to a shoulder injury. Get the details here.