The New Orleans Pelicans are back in business. They proved they have the talent to be a playoff team and Zion Williamson is finally healthy again after missing the entire season.
This offseason will be huge for the Pelicans. Not only will they have to look for upgrades but they have to figure out a new contract for Williamson. His rookie contract expires after this season. Both sides want to continue the partnership but they may not be on the same page on how to do so.
According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, the Pelicans are not looking to offer a fully guaranteed extension to their young star. Much of that reluctance comes from owner Gayle Benson, who is looking to approach this as if it were an NFL contract negotiation.
"The Pelicans, at this point are not willing to offer a full 5 year guaranteed deal… They will offer him a huge contract but will not guarantee all of it."
🔊 Brian Windhorst with Intel on the Pelicans' contract negotiations with Zion Williamsonpic.twitter.com/4dTbQ2uPvd
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) May 27, 2022
Williamson is certainly one of the very best players in the NBA when healthy but he has been held back by his poor health. That will be the dominating factor in the details of his offer from the Pelicans.
Offering a young star a non-guaranteed extension that is still very big is not new. Joel Embiid, for example, received a max contract extension that was partially guaranteed that offered incentives to raise his salary. He missed the entirety of his first two seasons and still received a massive contract.
Williamson's situation is a bit different because he only missed one full season and proved to be a true All-Star sooner than Embiid did. Still, the Pelicans see a very talented player who has major injury concerns. It will be interesting to see what deal )if any) Williamson accepts.
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