According to Brian Windhorst, the New Orleans Pelicans won’t offer Zion Williamson a full 5-year guaranteed max contract in the offseason.
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Despite getting a green flag to play from the next season onwards, Zion Williamson might not receive the contract he would’ve wished for from the New Orleans Pelicans. “Zanos” is rookie extension eligible, meaning that the organization has the option to offer their star forward a 5-year max extension worth more than $186 million.
However, will the organization be ready to risk so much money on a player who played merely 85 games in his first three seasons? Well, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, at this point NOLA isn’t ready to offer a full 5-year guaranteed deal to the 1-time All-Star. On a recent appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up”, Brian said:
“Any player that’s in his position would sign a 5-year, guaranteed max contract. But from what I have been told, The Pelicans, at this point are not willing to offer a full 5 year guaranteed deal, and a lot of it is flowing down from ownership.”
“Gayle Benson, the owner, is also the owner of the Saints and I have been told they are gonna take a football-style mentality with his contract negotiation. They will offer him a huge contract but will not guarantee all of it. If Zion accepts those terms, it still protects himself and maybe gets $100+ million guaranteed, he signs and everything’s fine. If he doesn’t sign it and wants the full thing guaranteed, we could have some drama into the fall.”
Also Read: NBA Twitter reacts as the Pels youngster has been cleared to play without restrictions
NBA Twitter reacts as Brian Windhorst revealed NOLA’s contract decisions for Zion Williamson
As soon as the ESPN analyst gave insights into the entire situation, NBA Twitter blew up with reactions.
Zion Williamson shouldn’t be payed $186M after sitting the entire year out and “eating cheeseburgers”
— Vivaan Davda (@vivaand13) May 28, 2022
Well why would any team with common sense agree to a max guarantee contract with a player who will be injured his whole career 🤔
— Ricky Mckinnon (@Moe_harlem) May 28, 2022
It would be fiscally irresponsible to give him a guaranteed deal https://t.co/1dBJqKEjS1
— Mike Randle (@RandleRant) May 27, 2022
They’re trying to confirm if he can still perform 😂😂😂
— issa evil world we live in (@SimonNwh) May 27, 2022
Also Read: Pelicans’ star spent almost a million dollars to secure Greg Monroe’s home
To be fair, Zion is already a proven star. When healthy, he is one of the most dominating players in the entire league. NOLA would love to retain Williamson, however, it will be interesting to see how the youngster approaches this summer.
