The New Orleans Pelicans are set to restructure its player care and performance team this offseason, sources told Christian Clark of Nola.com.

Aaron Nelson, previously of the Suns, has been in charge of the department for four years.

Under his watch, the team has finished seventh, 27th, 20th, and seventh in games lost due to injury.

Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram combined to miss 90 games last season, which reportedly included frustration about Ingram's lost time.

C.J. McCollum was a recent guest on The Ryen Russillo Show. Among the topics McCollum and the eponymous host discussed was Zion Williamson. McCollum detailed how he and other teammates have told Williamson that his career is up to him now.

“I’ve had serious conversations with him on multiple occasions,” McCollum said. “Not just me, Larry (Nance Jr.). I’ve told him, ‘You can be as good as you wanna be, and that’s not for everybody'. The level of the best version of him is a level that everybody can’t get to.”

McCollum said he's told Williamson that only he can want to be the dominant force he's been during brief periods of his career.

“Your ceiling is unlike anything the NBA has ever seen,” McCollum said he's told Williamson. “But it’s up to you to take full advantage of whatever that is. I can’t want it for you. Mom can’t want it for you. Dad can’t want it for you. Staff can’t want it for you. So, it’s up to you to decide what that looks like. You’ve got to figure out what you want to do with this game, because this game will go where you take it.”

CJ McCollum underwent successful surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right thumb. The surgery was performed by Dr. Michelle Carlson at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York.

Additionally, after further consultation with Dr. David Altchek at HSS, it has been determined that McCollum will not require surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. McCollum will undergo an offseason rehabilitation program focused on shoulder stabilization and strengthening.

McCollum is expected to make a full recovery for both injuries prior to the start of training camp. 

McCollum publicly played through the injury for a considerable part of the season.

David Griffin addressed Zion Williamson's health and conditioning on Friday, placing some responsibility back on Williamson.

“I think a big part is on him. I think there is a lot he can do better. And he would, I think, tell you that.

"I think we need to do a better job examining the whole situation top to bottom a little bit better," said Griffin on Friday.

Williamson, who played in 29 games this season, suffered a hamstring injury in January and didn't return to the court. The forward was never cleared by the team to play 5-on-5 before their elimination in the play-in game. 

Griffin then explained Williamson's statement from Tuesday in which he said "I can pretty much do anything."

“He makes the one misstatement about, ‘Physically, I’m fine.’ Had I been here, I would have clarified it immediately. The thing is when you’re going through a rehab process and a player does not report, ‘I’m very comfortable and confident in this movement,’ you don’t go to the next movement," added Griffin. 

Zion Williamson was never cleared by the New Orleans Pelicans to play 5-on-5 or even full court 3-on-3 before they were eliminated from the playoffs in the Play-In.

Williamson suggested this week that he was mentally not ready to play after suffering a setback with his hamstring injury.

Williamson has played in fewer than 30 games in three of his four NBA season, missing the entire 21-22 campaign.

Tuesday night's play-in game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Lakers averaged 3.47 million viewers on TNT.

The viewership stands as the second largest in play-in game history, only trailing the Lakers game against the Warriors from two years ago. It was also the second most-watched game of the season on cable, trailing the Lakers-Warriors game from opening night.

Wednesday night's Thunder-Pelicans game averaged 2.86 million viewers.

In the Eastern Conference, the Hawks-Heat matchup averaged 2.25 million viewers on TNT. The Bulls-Raptors game averaged 2.18 million viewers for ESPN. 

Jose Alvarado has resumed on-court basketball workouts but will still miss at least one more week of action.

Alvarado has been out since February 27 due to a stress reaction in his right tibia. 

Should the Pelicans make the playoffs via the play-in tournament, Alvarado would likely miss first two games of the first-round series against the Nuggets. 

Zion Williamson spoke with the media following a report that he is unlikely to play in the first round of the playoffs should the New Orleans Pelicans advance out of the Play-In.

Williamson said he feels good physically, but it's more about "when I feel like Zion again."

"When I go to make certain moves, there is that hesitation," said Williamson. "Sometimes there's not and sometimes there is. And I understand the magnitude of these games coming up and I don't want to be out there hesitating or doing something that may affect my team in a bad way."

Zion Williamson is not expected to be available for the first round of the playoffs should the New Orleans Pelicans win the two games needed through the Play-In, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic. If the Pelicans advance, they would be matched with the No. 1 seed Denver Nuggets.

Charania reports that Williamson's conditioning is just not where it needs to be in order to play.

Williamson has been out since Jan. 2 with a hamstring injury.

Zion Williamson is unlikely to play for the New Orleans Pelicans in the Western Conference Play-In Tournament. The Pelicans announced on Thursday that Williamson was continuing his rehab from a hamstring injury, but did not give a timeline for him to return.

New Orleans still has a chance to make the top-six in the Western Conference, but they currently sit in the eighth spot. That would mean playing in the first Play-In game, with a chance at the seventh seed. If the Pelicans lost, they'd have a second shot to win and enter the playoffs as the eighth seed.

Williamson has appeared in only 29 games this season. He's been out since January second with his hamstring injury. Overall, Williamson has played in only 114 games in the first four seasons of his NBA career.