Pelicans Expect 'Challenge' With Zion Williamson Extension Talks

[RealGM Wiretap]

While Zion Williamson has gone on record that he would sign an extension with the New Orleans Pelicans this offseason, David Griffin is not necessarily expecting an easy resolution.

“Obviously, that conversation is going to be one that will be a challenge,” Griffin said last Friday. “When it's time to have that, we’ll have it. And right now what we're focused on is him being healthy, and (being in) kind of elite condition to play basketball and we'll start there.”

According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, the Pelicans are expected to attach some stipulations where they won't offer Williamson a fully guaranteed five-year, $181 million max contract.

"I don't think they're offering a five-year max," said Windhorst. 

"I don't think they're going to want to guarantee the full five years. I think they'll come into it not wanting him to have a player option. In other words, it will be a five-year contract and we'll have protection. And they'll want to haggle over what constitutes the protection."

Windhorst then said he expects the contract talks to be similar to the one Joel Embiid signed in 2017 with the Philadelphia 76ers. Windhorst cautioned that the difference between the two situations is that Embiid was on the same page with the 76ers at the time.

Via RealGM Staff Report

[Barcs]

Called it. Any extension for Zion should be incentive based.

[hype_2004]

He's gone, UFA.

[eureca20]

It kinda feels like Zion gave the Pelicans more leverage when he was so open about being ready to re-sign. Came off as he wanted to lock up some money because he wasn't confident in his health. It makes sense, but you don't necessarily need to say it.

Instead of going into the negotiations with the Pelicans not knowing if you are willing to re-sign. They can offer you a more team friendly deal since they know you want to.

My guess is he will probably end up accepting the Pelicans offer. He won't want to risk having another injured season heading into his free agency.

[beefman]

He's gone, UFA.

good. he's washed up

[Pickled Prunes]

Called it. Any extension for Zion should be incentive based.

I agree, it should be. But you can't shout out "called it" based on Windhorse speculation. He's guessing just like the rest of us.

[objectivefan]

It kinda feels like Zion gave the Pelicans more leverage when he was so open about being ready to re-sign. Came off as he wanted to lock up some money because he wasn't confident in his health. It makes sense, but you don't necessarily need to say it.

Instead of going into the negotiations with the Pelicans not knowing if you are willing to re-sign. They can offer you a more team friendly deal since they know you want to.

My guess is he will probably end up accepting the Pelicans offer. He won't want to risk having another injured season heading into his free agency.

agreed, he went over the top but.

"I want to be here, if you want to talk about contracts and such speak to my agent" should be the standard answer.

[NO-KG-AI]

Source? Windy?

[Barcs]

Called it. Any extension for Zion should be incentive based.

I agree, it should be. But you can't shout out "called it" based on Windhorse speculation. He's guessing just like the rest of us.

I can shout that out all I want, thank you. I called it because it made sense to not offer a fully guaranteed max deal to a guy that can't stay on the floor and it will still make sense when it becomes official in a few months.

[Pickled Prunes]

Called it. Any extension for Zion should be incentive based.

I agree, it should be. But you can't shout out "called it" based on Windhorse speculation. He's guessing just like the rest of us.

I can shout that out all I want, thank you. I called it because it made sense to not offer a fully guaranteed max deal to a guy that can't stay on the floor and it will still make sense when it becomes official in a few months.

But he didn't sign the contract yet. He hasn't even been offered a contract yet. I agree with you and apparently windbag does too... but you haven't been proven right yet.

Just out of curiosity, what do you think the contract stipulations might be? I personally believe that the stipulations will be window dressing. The contract will be big enough that it will cripple the organization if he can't play. If it's $179/5 with $1m a year in unlikely incentives you would still be right and yet the not in any meaningful way.

[CanesHeatFins]

Y'all funny...Why on earth would Zion sign a non guaranteed incitive based contract, when at LEAST 25 other teams would sign him to a fully guaranteed max deal? I actually hope New Orleans is dumb enough to disrespect him so that he can hit the market. Seen it a million times whether it be be NCAAF, NCAAB, NBA, NFL.... mediocre team briefly overachieves, team GM or athletic director proceeds to believe their own hype, and runs off a great player or coach.

[tidho]

Y'all funny...Why on earth would Zion sign a non guaranteed incitive based contract, when at LEAST 25 other teams would sign him to a fully guaranteed max deal? I actually hope New Orleans is dumb enough to disrespect him so that he can hit the market. Seen it a million times whether it be be NCAAF, NCAAB, NBA, NFL.... mediocre team briefly overachieves, team GM or athletic director proceeds to believe their own hype, and runs off a great player or coach.

disrespect him? lmao. he's on his way to eating himself out of the league. there's no way 25 teams are offering that dude the max (not that they even could).

it only takes one team to go all in on him, but NO still gets the opportunity to match if it comes to that.

[CanesHeatFins]

Y'all funny...Why on earth would Zion sign a non guaranteed incitive based contract, when at LEAST 25 other teams would sign him to a fully guaranteed max deal? I actually hope New Orleans is dumb enough to disrespect him so that he can hit the market. Seen it a million times whether it be be NCAAF, NCAAB, NBA, NFL.... mediocre team briefly overachieves, team GM or athletic director proceeds to believe their own hype, and runs off a great player or coach.

disrespect him? lmao. he's on his way to eating himself out of the league. there's no way 25 teams are offering that dude the max (not that they even could).

it only takes one team to go all in on him, but NO still gets the opportunity to match if it comes to that.

Teams would create cap space to get him...and Zion makes enough off the court to sign his qualifying offer to become unrestricted the next year. There isn't a team in the league that wouldn't attempt to create max space for Zion, if he wanted to come to their team.

[ktweezee]

Teams would create cap space to get him...and Zion makes enough off the court to sign his qualifying offer to become unrestricted the next year. There isn't a team in the league that wouldn't attempt to create max space for Zion, if he wanted to come to their team.

definitely, he'll have suitors that need a star. the man is unstoppable. you can't stop him when he is cooking. he'll grill and eat 2 dozen hot dogs in a sitting...

[BandWagonWheel]

Any team dumb enough to give Doughnut Oden a max, deserves the years of irrelevancy they will get. It couldn't be more obvious that Zion Williamsons name will be synonymous with BUST. To sign him to a max now will guarantee the loss of a job for the coach calling for it. If he even gets to 500 games played in his career, ill eat my hat.

[Barcs]

I agree, it should be. But you can't shout out "called it" based on Windhorse speculation. He's guessing just like the rest of us.

I can shout that out all I want, thank you. I called it because it made sense to not offer a fully guaranteed max deal to a guy that can't stay on the floor and it will still make sense when it becomes official in a few months.

But he didn't sign the contract yet. He hasn't even been offered a contract yet. I agree with you and apparently windbag does too... but you haven't been proven right yet.

Just out of curiosity, what do you think the contract stipulations might be? I personally believe that the stipulations will be window dressing. The contract will be big enough that it will cripple the organization if he can't play. If it's $179/5 with $1m a year in unlikely incentives you would still be right and yet the not in any meaningful way.

Honestly, I think it will be similar to the one Embiid signed, but with less guaranteed and more incentives.

[Barcs]

Y'all funny...Why on earth would Zion sign a non guaranteed incitive based contract, when at LEAST 25 other teams would sign him to a fully guaranteed max deal? I actually hope New Orleans is dumb enough to disrespect him so that he can hit the market. Seen it a million times whether it be be NCAAF, NCAAB, NBA, NFL.... mediocre team briefly overachieves, team GM or athletic director proceeds to believe their own hype, and runs off a great player or coach.

Any team that just offers a max fully guaranteed deal to a guy that can't stay on the court is taking a huge risk. Even Embiid was given an incentive laden contract after his first 3 injury plagued years and he is a much more dynamic player than Zion.

And don't get me wrong, I have no doubt that many other teams will be lining up to roll the dice on Zion, but can't see a fully guaranteed max contract unless it's a dumb desperate team like the Nets.

IMO, Zion's best chance to get paid like a superstar is to play out the next season and stay healthy. Unfortunately, for the Pelicans it's best to offer him an extension now, or he will likely be playing for another team come 23-24.

[Pickled Prunes]

I can shout that out all I want, thank you. I called it because it made sense to not offer a fully guaranteed max deal to a guy that can't stay on the floor and it will still make sense when it becomes official in a few months.

But he didn't sign the contract yet. He hasn't even been offered a contract yet. I agree with you and apparently windbag does too... but you haven't been proven right yet.

Just out of curiosity, what do you think the contract stipulations might be? I personally believe that the stipulations will be window dressing. The contract will be big enough that it will cripple the organization if he can't play. If it's $179/5 with $1m a year in unlikely incentives you would still be right and yet the not in any meaningful way.

Honestly, I think it will be similar to the one Embiid signed, but with less guaranteed and more incentives.

That Embiid extension was still going to ruin them if he never played again. The more recent Embiid extension is more risky than the first. He'll be getting $54M when he's 33. That won't work out well.

[Pickled Prunes]

Y'all funny...Why on earth would Zion sign a non guaranteed incitive based contract, when at LEAST 25 other teams would sign him to a fully guaranteed max deal? I actually hope New Orleans is dumb enough to disrespect him so that he can hit the market. Seen it a million times whether it be be NCAAF, NCAAB, NBA, NFL.... mediocre team briefly overachieves, team GM or athletic director proceeds to believe their own hype, and runs off a great player or coach.

Any team that just offers a max fully guaranteed deal to a guy that can't stay on the court is taking a huge risk. Even Embiid was given an incentive laden contract after his first 3 injury plagued years and he is a much more dynamic player than Zion.

And don't get me wrong, I have no doubt that many other teams will be lining up to roll the dice on Zion, but can't see a fully guaranteed max contract unless it's a dumb desperate team like the Nets.

IMO, Zion's best chance to get paid like a superstar is to play out the next season and stay healthy. Unfortunately, for the Pelicans it's best to offer him an extension now, or he will likely be playing for another team come 23-24.

By not fully guaranteed we are talking about very limited protections. It's still a crap ton of money. NOP can offer Zion less than a max and still be offering more than what other teams can offer. (A higher starting salary, higher raises and an extra year.) That said, POR would sign him to a 4-year max today. Either Lillard and Zion are the core of a contender or Zion eats their cap while they tank for 3-4 years. Any team with that kind of timeline would do it.