Zion is a 2nd year player, expecting them to really compete seems strange.
By compete, what I am looking for is along the lines of OKC's first playoff push.
In Durant's first two seasons, OKC was terrible. One of the five worst teams both years. They had amassed some great young talent (Durant, Jeff Green, Westbrook, Harden, Ibaka) and now it was time to start moving forwards.
In the meantime, Durant had also transitioned from a young player who did not effect winning (one of the worst defenders in the league + shot selection and scoring efficiency needed to grow) into one who had a huge effect on winning. This happened in his 3rd year.
In New Orleans they do not have the exact same situation.
Firstly, Zion did not take 3 years to learn how to impact winning. He did that from day one. He turned NOP into a near .500 team (over 24 games) while on the court his rookie year despite being on a minutes restriction (only 27-28mpg).
Secondly, this team does not have quite the breadth of young talent that OKC has but it does have a lot. It has two elite young stars in Zion & Ingram (rather than 3) and some good young talent in Lonzo & Jaxson Hayes (vs J.Green, Ibaka) plus another good pick in 2020 draft to add to it. There is a clear foundation to be built upon.
This is not a team starting from scratch. It is already well along it's building stage similar to OKC in it's 3rd year. NOP is not ready to win a title or even to compete for one. But it is ready to compete for the playoffs. To start learning about how to win in pressure environments. To learn how hard they are going to have to work in order to win a title together.
And in order to become more attractive as an up-and-coming power in order to attract a 3rd star via free agency or a trade somewhere further down the line.