According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, confirmed by the New Orleans Pelicans, Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum have been shut down for the remainder of the season.

This season has gone very poorly for New Orleans due to majority of their players being injured throughout the season, which has caused them to drop to 14th in the Western Conference.

Williamson, who has recently been dealing with a back injury, only played 30 games this season. He’s only played in 214 career games in six seasons.

McCollum, who has been dealing with a foot contusion injury, only played in 57 games this season. This is a nine game drop off from last season.

With the Pelicans being 21-54, they saw no point in trying to rush their starting line players back onto the court. They will now look ahead to the offseason’s draft and free agency.

CJ McCollum Returns, Zion Williamson Puts On A Masterpiece

What a day for the New Orleans Pelicans as not only did they beat the Philadelphia 76ers, but both CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson played out of their minds.

For Williamson, he dropped 33 points on 11/12 shooting along with 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Talk about perfect performance, from his shooting splits to his actual stats; it was incredible to see out of the former number-one pick.

Now, let us talk about McCollum and what he did in his return to New Orleans. For those that don’t know, the veteran guard was out for the last three weeks due to a collapsed lung. The good news, he is obviously in good health again.

The better news is that McCollum finished up with 20 points and 5 assists in their win against the Sixers. When both are healthy, this one-two-punch duo cannot be stopped.

CJ McCollum Suffers Collapsed Lung

The New Orleans Pelicans will be without one of their top players for the foreseeable future after it’s been revealed that CJ McCollum has suffered a collapsed lung.

Per Andrew Lopez of ESPN, McCollum is set to undergo more testing in the next 48 hours to determine the severity of this injury and how long he’ll be out for.

For reference, this is McCollum’s second time with this type of injury. Back in December of 2021, the 32-year-old was out for three weeks following his prognosis.

It’s unfortunate the amount of time he is going to miss due to this injury if it is the same as the last time. New Orleans will release an update once more testing is completed.