Zion Williamson-Pelicans trade take from Kendrick Perkins draws surprising reactions from NBA Twitter

3/22/23

Kendrick Perkins made headlines on Wednesday after he said that if it’s up to him, he would trade New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson. Perk reasoned out that the Pels cannot lean on Williamson to be their franchise player because he’s always injured.

While some would expect for Perkins to be roasted for his latest take, it’s exactly the opposite. Many agreed on the former NBA big man, with many joking that he’s now starting to make sense following the backlash he received on his comments about the MVP race between Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic.

“They should move on and get a couple trades and get a couple players from the NBA draft. Zion unfortunately is always getting hurt like Anthony Davis. Both are good players just becoming a liability,” one fan responded to Perkins’ Williamson trade stance.

“Perk right about something for once,” another Twitter user said.

A third commenter said, “I don’t disagree with that. The problem is, who’s going to take the risk? With the contract he just got, I wouldn’t.”

Zion Williamson has already missed a huge chunk of the 2022-23 season because of a hamstring injury, so it’s understandable where the frustration of fans are coming from. He has played in just 29 games so far this campaign, and according to the latest reports, he is out for at least two more weeks (keyword: AT LEAST). The Pelicans have roughly two weeks of basketball left, so there’s a chance that Zion only returns in the Play-In if they make it–and that’s a big if.

Through four seasons, Williamson has only played more than 30 games once–back in 2020-21 when he made his first All-Star appearance. He made just 24 appearances in his first year and missed the whole 2021-22 due to a foot injury.

For what it’s worth, several others pointed out that Joel Embiid was also riddled with injuries early in his career before getting healthy and becoming an MVP contender. With that said, they argued it might be too early to give up on Zion.

It’s unlikely the Pelicans will trade Williamson anyway–not with the youngster showing he’s an All-Star when he’s on the court. Sure enough, though, fans are hoping he’ll be able to play more.