Kushner: Zion Williamson isn’t happy with the New Orleans Pelicans; why that’s good

Zion Williamson isn’t happy about the current state of the New Orleans Pelicans.

Good.

For fans of the franchise who watched two Hall of Fame talents demand their way out of town without so much as a trip to the conference finals, it’s about time someone holds this team to a higher standard while they’re still in uniform here.

Zion wants to do what Chris Paul and Anthony Davis didn’t. But he’s also not going to wait around only to find out why no NBA star has ever left New Orleans with more than a single playoff series win on their resume.

As previously reported by NOLA.com and expounded on by The Athletic on Thursday, Williamson and those around him are dissatisfied with the current state of the team, particularly the losing.

“Most of the attention, however, from numerous sources across the league, has centered on Williamson’s family members’ thinly veiled unhappiness with the Pelicans,” The Athletic wrote. “And whether those feelings seeped into the player’s own views.”

So you didn’t know how urgent the New Orleans Pelicans’ predicament is?

The reports are striking, especially to fans already on edge.

But it shouldn’t prompt post-traumatic stress.

The only ones who should be perturbed by the All-Star’s state of displeasure are those who work at the team’s facility on Airline Drive. Because Williamson, and his family, are raising expectations in a hurry.

They’re putting the franchise on notice. It’s something long past due after failing to climb out of the bottom-third of the Western Conference standings in consecutive years.

Put simply, the Pelicans have been terrible. Finishing 13th and 11th in the 15-team West is objectively abysmal. Being forced to play out meaningless games despite two-thirds of the league reaching the playoffs is embarrassing.

And it’s not acceptable with this much talent on the roster. So, it’s time for a kick in the pants.

And Williamson appears to be the one applying it.

That’s the burden of drafting a superstar at No. 1, and trading for Brandon Ingram, who grew into an All Star worthy of a maximum contract in 2019-20.

There’s no time to waste.

Yes, the timeline is far different than what executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin envisioned when he took over in the spring of 2019. But, winning the draft lottery and trading for Ingram changed the circumstances.

And now, we’ll see how he rolls with amped up pressure. Thus far, he’s struggled.

Griffin started his tenure by picking up the option on coach Alvin Gentry’s contract two years ago, then fired him after a season. It prompted a wide-ranging search for Gentry’s replacement, only to end up with Van Gundy who was dumped just eight months later.

Griffin built a roster to make the Pelicans more defensive-minded and tougher, and their defense got worse and lazier. And now he faces the most critical offseason in franchise history, with Williamson’s contract suddenly poking its way into the foreground.

For his part, Griffin rebuffed the notion Zion’s long-term specter is going to shape his next set of moves.

“None of it,” Griffin said Wednesday. “I know no one is going to believe that. But that’s not what we do here. We’re not chasing some invisible clock. We are trying to build a sustainable winner and a team that can contend once it wins with regularity. That’s what we’re trying to build.

“That’s what the urgency is. I don’t believe in that invisible clock. You’re either all the way in or all the way out. This city is absolutely about that. I think all of you who have lived here for an extended period of time understand that there is not a lot of in-between when you live in New Orleans. You’re here because you love and want to be. And we believe our players want to win here and will love winning here. We’re not chasing anything other than the success we need to have as a group. That’s it.”

For its part, the franchise is committed to the rapid timeline. They allowed Griffin to pull the plug after handing out two lucrative contracts, paying more than $12 million combined to send Gentry and Van Gundy packing.

David Griffin doesn’t have to look too far for his next coach.

And now, they’re giving Griffin the flexibility to hire yet another coach. One who wants to work with Williamson, and channel his frustration into passion toward turning the franchise into a winning direction.

It shouldn’t be a hard sell. Sources indicate the issue is far more about losing games than anything intrinsically about New Orleans, including the small market footprint.

But, still, it’s natural to be beleaguered when hearing about Williamson’s disappointment in the franchise.

Yet, based on where things stand in the present, Zion is providing the impetus for the Pelicans to press the accelerator on improving, while coaxing them to spend the necessary dollars to do it.

And Pelicans fans should welcome it.

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