The five-year, $197MM extension that Zion Williamson signed with the Pelicans in 2022 no longer carries a guarantee for the final three seasons, Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic has learned.
According to Vorkunov, a clause in the contract makes Williamson’s salaries for 2025/26, 2026/27, and 2027/28 non-guaranteed because he missed more than 22 games last season. A year after sitting out an entire season with a foot injury, Williamson managed to play in just 29 games in 2022/23, mainly due to a lingering hamstring issue.
Missing significant time again this season could reduce the guaranteed portion of Williamson’s $36.7MM salary for 2024/25, Vorkunov adds, although his contract contains provisions for him to earn back some of the guarantees by playing in a certain number of games and achieving weigh-in benchmarks. He has been more reliable so far this season, appearing in 23 of 28 games, even though there have been concerns about his conditioning.
Williamson risks losing more guaranteed money if he doesn’t keep adhering to the team’s weight guidelines. As previously reported, the Pelicans are requiring him to keep the total of his weight and body fat percentage below a combined 295, with Vorkunov noting that because Williamson was listed at 285 pounds last season, his body fat would have had to be less than 10% to meet that clause.
The contract also includes protections for the team if Williamson has further problems with the fifth metatarsal in his right foot, which is what sidelined him for the 2021/22 season. If he suffers another fracture or stress injury to that area, he will lose the guarantee on half his base salary for 2024/25, sources tell Vorkunov.
There are provisions for Williamson to regain portions of his guaranteed money, Vorkunov adds. Twenty percent of his 2025/26 salary will be guaranteed if he hits all six of his weight checkpoints next season, another 40% if he’s able to play in at least half the team’s game for 2024/25 and the remaining 20% if he reaches 61 games. Similar pathways exist for the 2026/27 and 2027/28 guarantees.
Vorkunov also reports that Williamson must be waived by July 15 of each year if the Pelicans decide to part with him before any of the final three seasons.
The Pelicans and Williamson’s agent, Austin Brown, refused to comment, but Vorkunov was able to confirm the details with six league sources.
Of course, the guarantees will only come into play if New Orleans decides to release Williamson before the end of the contract, and rival executives believe that would only happen in “extreme circumstances,” Vorkunov adds. Despite all the injury concerns and conditioning questions, the former No. 1 overall draft pick remains a supremely talented player, averaging 22.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game this season while shooting 57.8% from the field.
John Hollinger of The Athletic provides an in-depth look at why the Pelicans are unlikely to part ways with Williamson before the deal expires, projecting that it would require a full-scale rebuild because of the difficulty of finding another star to replace him.
I don’t care for Zion much but it’s just funny how you can label it guaranteed when it’s not
He signed it as is
When you are a professional athlete being paid at his level you shouldn’t need these provisions in a contract. It’s like the studying clause they tried putting in Kyler Murray’s extension. Dude could have been dominant if he took his body and job seriously.
He seems to be living the life he wants. We all follow our own paths and not everybody wants to be “dominant.” That sh&t is all in your head.
Living the life he wants is going to cut his career short and just made his $200 million contract non guaranteed. He is paid more than enough he could have his own personal chef. Part of his job and literally in his contract is staying in shape.
The team should provide a chef. As part of contract ……. Insane an athlete can’t stay in shape.
Chef boy r dee does not count!
10% body fat that’s incredibly fit. What do you expect from this guy?
If he’s meeting those metrics, then what’s the problem? Why is everybody so hard on this guy’s eating habits? It seems like he’s in great shape. He can’t be eating that poorly.
Too much McDonald’s will destroy your diet. There was a video against the Lakers, where Zion was running the court catching his breath. His short was torn because of his fat thigh. -_-
The hornets did something similar with Lamelo, I don’t think so.
It’s just the guarantee that’s gone. The team would have to release him to get off the contract, and they can’t agree to mark it down. What level of injury would give rise to the NOP completely walking away from him to get off the last years of his deal?
I think this does increase his trade value while he’s (relatively) healthy, assuming a trade itself does trigger a reinstitution of some guarantees. Because they have a good young and relatively young roster without him, I can see a trade being best for them.
I really wouldn’t be surprised if Pels trade him before the deadline, with all the reports, I see a loss of patience now. Some team will take a flyer thinking they’ll get him back on track and would likely pay big for him.
Smartest contract offered by a sports team ever! So many questioned the 5 years and $191M, but when you realize that it’s really $75M over 2 years with three potentially non-guaranteed seasons, it is a no downside deal for the Pels.
Jusy say you’re afraid to trade him…
Maybe a Peloton for Christmas
IMO Zion needs a fresh start from the Pelicans. Pels have a lot of talent so it wouldn’t be a rebuild just a reshuffling.
Pels would get a huge haul for a healthy Zion (which he has been so far this year).
The Knicks will kick the tires on Zion I am sure. He is tight with Barrett. Randle would be awesome for the Pels.
I can’t see Thibs going for that. He values work ethic above all else. Randle is flawed, but he’s durable, famously diligent, and pretty damn talented in his own right.
Thibs and Zion is not a match at all. Thibs and Randle are a nice pairing. Thibs likes to give his main guys all the minutes they can handle, and Randle is more than ok with that.
A lot of guys hate on Julius. You are correct. He is a talented player who worked hard to develop his all-around game, and to polish his skills.
That where he was prior to the Knicks
If Zion hasn’t figured out that he can’t be a successful morbidly obese NBA player by now thEN he’ll never figure it out. Just cut ties completely. LET HIM STUFF HIS FAT FACE TO DEATH.
10% body fat. Don’t get so furious. It’s not eating that is causing his issies.
I can see the clauses in regards to his weight and all, but the bit about taking away guaranteed money if he suffers an injury to his foot similar to what he had before surprises me. He can control his weight and conditioning; not so much with an injury. Tough to believe such a clause is admissible; I’d think that the player’s union at the least would raise a stink there.
His weight caused the injury. Should it happen again it would have the same cause.
It’s hard to stay healthy when you are trying to play at 300 pounds
Zion is trending in the wrong direction…..
He’s going to eat his way out the league.
He should move to nfl, he could be rich man version of Paterson, sound crazy but it’s true.
Pelicans need to wait until he has a 4-6 week hot streak and trade him to a gullible nba gm. You can’t teach motivation and commitment – and Zion has neither.
As long as New Orleans has beignets, gumbo and crawfish, Fat Zion doesn’t stand a chance.
Pels should trade him…
They aren’t a good fit… Their ways of getting him to work haven’t worked…
Zion, Simmons, and Morant max contracts should force stipulations onto every future max contract and let teams get out of the contracts if they choose. Morant is the only one of those 3 that a team might not get out of asap if that becomes a possibility.
Vorkunov is almost certainly misreading the weight clause. NO WAY, that Zion is close to 10% body fat (or even 12%); and it’s also unlikely that the team would bless a 20% body fat percentage as long as he’s under 275 lbs. That’s a level of conditioning that would preclude being a professional athlete.
That clause was reported back in 2022 by NOLA.com as well using the same terms, so I would assume it’s accurate.
Based on Vorkunov’s wording though, it’s not clear that Zion met it last season — I think he’s just saying that because his weight was 285, he would’ve needed his body fat to be at 10% or less to meet the criteria. He doesn’t confirm that his body fat WAS that low.
Always hard to initially judge extensions because these sorts of details don’t always get leaked to the public until much later on. Of course, Zion’s contract is especially unique given his struggles, but he’s not the only player to have special language included in his contract.
In any event, this is obviously good for the Pelicans. Glad they’re weren’t dumb enough to not protect themselves. The fact that were able to include so many provisions in his contract speaks volume about what Zion’s perceived value was around the league at that time. Because if he were so highly sought after—and thus, able to command a bigger, less clause-heavy contract—there’s less of a chance he agrees to this in the first place.
It’s a little embarrassing I’m sure to have this kind of clause in his contract just as it is for Kyler Murray’s.. although after backlash the Cardinals withdrew his. But fans still remember. When healthy Zion is one of the best players in the league.