How worried should Pelicans be about Zion’s knees?

Already set to miss the start of the regular season, Zion Williamson’s injury might give the New Orleans Pelicans cause for pause.

It didn’t take Zion Williamson, the No. 1 overall pick of the New Orleans Pelicans, very long to show the NBA world just how well his game would translate on the NBA hardwood.

Sure, preseason basketball is nestled somewhere in between the collegiate level and regular season play on the difficulty scale, but 23.3 points in 27.3 minutes a night aren’t your everyday numbers, even across just four relatively meaningless games.

His eye-popping athleticism was on full display and his lack of an outside jumper didn’t seem to cause any problems. The No. 1 overall pick got to the rim whenever he wanted, shooting a blistering 71.4 percent from the field.

Having been seen only sparingly since his final game at Duke, the performances fell perfectly in the line with the sky-high expectations Williamson has for his rookie season and created even more anticipation for his official debut on Oct. 22.

And then, the hype train was halted and a reality check was quickly doled out. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported late Friday morning Zion would miss “a period of weeks” to start the regular season due to an injury suffered to his right knee.

Part of what makes Williamson a transcendent talent is his unusual strength at such a young age. It’s why he’s able to shoot 12-of-13 against the Chicago Bulls with barely a single attempt taken outside the restricted area.

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His domineering size combined with consistent assaults on the bucket is also why he isn’t likely to make his NBA debut until November.

Potential injury concerns had been a talking point about Williamson well before he became a member of the New Orleans Pelicans.

Listed at 6’7” and 284 pounds, his high-flying theatrics put an incredible amount of stress on his lower body, the likes of which haven’t been seen before. For comparison, the similarly gifted LeBron James weighed 240 coming out of high school.

The growing consensus from experts and fans alike was that as Williamson got deeper into his NBA career and his athleticism waned, some of that weight would have to be taken off to keep his lower half from crumbling.

Nobody saw the issue arising in Year 1 when every 19-year-old seems invincible, let alone before his rookie campaign technically even began.

He’s participated in only 108 minutes of preseason hoops, tied for 54th most among players. Yet here we are, days before the start of an incredibly hyped 2019-20 campaign, and one of its brightest young stars is already on the sidelines with an injury that has no singular point to serve as its impetus.

The Pelicans knew this subject would have to be dealt with but couldn’t possibly have imagined it costing them so soon.

It’s no reason to sound the alarms — not yet at least. Every rookie has what to work on in their first offseason. Give Zion the proper amount of time, and he’s sure to come into his sophomore season in much better shape following the realizations forced upon him this year.

Until then, it’s up to the New Orleans organization to manage their prized cornerstone’s present to make sure they don’t mortgage his bright future.