Zion Williamson’s turbulent offseason continues.
The Pelicans, who finished the season at 21-61 and missed the playoffs, “are gauging the market for everyone on their roster,” Yahoo Sports detailed in an NBA mock draft published Friday, the same day the team’s former first-round pick was accused of rape in a bombshell lawsuit.
“There are no untouchables in New Orleans,” Kevin O’Connor, the outlet’s senior NBA analyst, wrote in his projection of Duke’s Kon Knueppel landing with the Pelicans at No. 7 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft.
“League sources say the Pelicans are gauging the market for everyone on their roster. They very well could end up keeping their core pieces, namely Zion Williamson, but it appears the Pelicans are looking into taking different paths this summer depending on what opportunities become available.”
Days earlier, however, The Athletic reported, “It’s very unlikely Williamson gets moved in a trade before the 2025-26 season starts. There’s already been communication between Williamson, his camp and [New Orleans’ head of basketball operations Joe] Dumars on several occasions.”
The report also mentioned Williamson’s presence at the 2025 NBA Draft lottery festivities this month.
Williamson, the Pelicans’ first overall pick out of Duke in 2019, appeared in 30 games this season and averaged 24.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists.
He was shut down for the year in March due to a low back bone contusion, cutting another campaign short in what’s been an injury-riddled run.
Williamson, who was at the center of trade buzz in December, has been accused of sexual assault in a lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court by a woman identified as Jane Doe, who claims to be his ex-girlfriend.
In the lawsuit obtained Friday by The Post, it’s alleged that when Williamson arrived at a Beverly Hills property, a home he was believed to have been renting while training in 2020, he demanded sex from Doe.
When Doe refused, Williamson “pinned Plaintiff down on the bed with her hands behind her back and raped her,” according to the suit.
A second rape was also alleged in the lawsuit.
“Our client is very adamant about this — it’s not her desire or our desire to litigate this case in the press,” Doe’s attorney, Sam Taylor with the Lanier Law Firm, told The Post on Friday. “It’s a very serious case, as reflected in the allegations. Our client looks forward to her day in court where she can go and explain to a jury what happened to her, the things she endured for this defendant and getting justice.”
Williamson and Doe “began a dating relationship in or around 2018,” with the lawsuit alleging the 6-foot-6 power forward “engaged in a continuing pattern of abusive, controlling, and threatening behavior toward Plaintiff.” The relationship ran “through June 2023” per the docs.
In a statement shared Friday with The Post, Williamson denied the allegations through his legal representation.
“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and we unequivocally deny them. The allegations contained in the complaint are categorically false and reckless. This is the plaintiff’s third set of attorneys. This appears to be an attempt to exploit a professional athlete driven by a financial motive rather than any legitimate grievance,” the statement read.
News of Friday’s lawsuit follows what’s been a dramatic few months for Williamson.
In April, an accused stalker romantically linked to the two-time NBA All-Star is alleged to have assaulted a love rival.
