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Andrew LopezESPN
METAIRIE, La. — New Orleans Pelicans coach Willie Green says Zion Williamson and Herb Jones will be questionable for Friday’s game against the Phoenix Suns, but Brandon Ingram will not be on the upcoming three-game road trip because of his concussion.
Additionally, guard CJ McCollum (finger), Jose Alvarado (low back spasms) and Dyson Daniels (left ankle sprain) were also listed as questionable on the injury report.
Green said Williamson and Jones each went through portions of practice on Thursday but that Ingram will miss at least the next three games. Williamson (right posterior hip/lower back contusion) and Jones (right knee hyperextension) missed Tuesday’s win against the Dallas Mavericks.
“I’m feeling better. That was a hard fall. I’ve taken a lot of falls, but damn,” Williamson said Thursday afternoon. “But I’m feeling a lot better each day. Just got some ones in with [Pelicans assistant coach Corey Brewer]. Feel great. Just me and the team will talk about further progression.”
Williamson said he saw the replay of his fall from Sunday’s game against the Utah Jazz and said Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson made a “good defensive play” on the ball, but that he just lost his balance and took the hard fall.
“At first I was just like, damn, that kind of hurt,” Williamson said. “But I stood up and I was like, ‘All right, I’m gonna be straight.’ But then I tried to make a quick move and I was like, ‘Nah, I need to go chill.'”
Without Williamson, Ingram or Jones, the Pelicans held off the Mavericks in a 113-111 victory. With two days off before Friday’s game against the Suns, there was hope that the extra day could provide Williamson and Jones with much-needed rest.
Like Williamson, Jones also looked back at his injury from Sunday’s game and felt “thankful” that it wasn’t much worse. Jones finished the Jazz game after the injury and didn’t come out of the game until he fouled out late in overtime.
“I was going to worry about that after the game,” Jones said. “I didn’t want to come out of the game and leave my brothers out there. If I was able to get up, walk around, move. I did a couple trips up and down. I was just trying to see if I could move around. I was good then, but I knew it would get stiff once the game was over.”
Jones said his plan was to go shoot when the team arrives in Phoenix later Thursday and then go through shootaround on Friday morning to determine whether he can play against the Suns.
As for Ingram, the Pelicans will be without the forward for at least the next six days. The team plays the LA Clippers on Sunday and the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday with both games at Crypto.com Arena.
“He’s just at the beginning phases of [concussion protocol] and trying to work through it,” Green said. “But he’s not well enough to come into practice and things like that at the moment. He’s still getting better but just not well enough to practice and travel.”
Also on Thursday, the Pelicans exercised options for recent first-round draft choices Kira Lewis Jr. and Trey Murphy III.
The club announced Thursday that it picked up a fourth-year option for Lewis, a point guard drafted 13th overall out of Alabama in 2020, and a third-year option for Murphy, a small forward drafted 17th overall out of Virginia in 2021.
Lewis hasn’t played since last Dec. 8 because of a major knee injury. He is expected to come back this season. He has appeared in 78 games as a reserve for New Orleans, averaging 6.2 points and 2.2 assists in 16.0 minutes per game.
Murphy has appeared in 66 games with two starts, averaging 6.0 points and 2.6 rebounds in 14.9 minutes per game. He has shot 42% overall and 41% from from 3-point range.
Late last season, Murphy saw a surge in minutes and production. And in four games this season, he has averaged 15.5 points and 6.5 rebounds.
Because of Ingram’s concussion, Murphy started New Orleans’ game on Tuesday night, scoring a team-high 22 points in a victory over Dallas.