Last year was another injury-riddled campaign for Williamson, who appeared in just 30 games - the fourth time in his six-year career that he's played 30 or fewer games. For context, he's played fewer total minutes in his career than Paolo Banchero. Despite that, Williamson arguably played at the highest level of his career when available, setting per-36-minute career highs nearly across the board. However, he actually saw just 28.6 minutes per game due to injury management and the Pelicans' overall struggles - posting 24.6 points on 56.7 field-goal percentage, 7.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocks. New Orleans will look a bit different this season, namely due to trading CJ McCollum for Jordan Poole. Dejounte Murray is still recovering from an Achilles tear as well. The team probably can't perform much worse than the 21 wins they accrued last season, but it's probably not wise to expect a major leap in a loaded Western Conference. Some of that will also depend on Williamson's health. All in all, there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of Williamson's fantasy value for the upcoming season. He showed growth, but can he be trusted to play 50 games? He's routinely been drafted in the 30-40 range depending on format, but don't be surprised if he starts to slip into the 50 range in 2025-26 fantasy drafts.
