All is not well in the Big Easy if you’re to believe the rumours currently coming out of New Orleans these days. The Athletic, citing “certain family members” that are close to Zion, claims that the young superstar is unhappy with both the direction of the organization and the pieces around him.
Of particular concern was head coach Stan Van Gundy’s play calling and personality which evidently didn’t mesh well with the young Pelicans core. New Orleans responded in kind by ousting SVG after only one season as head coach. The Pelicans front office has yet to name a successor.
Sources claim Zion was also frustrated by the trade of JJ Reddick, as well as the lack of certainty around key pieces like Lonzo Ball, and Josh Hart (who came over in the Anthony Davis trade). Both player’s contracts are set to expire at season’s end with Zion reportedly pushing hard to lock up Ball long term.
Williamson wrapped up a breakout sophomore campaign where he posted a 27pts/7.2reb/3.7ast statline, while shooting 61.1% from the field. This kind of production puts him amongst the NBA’s elite when it comes to offensive efficiency. Ironically, it also creates unique pressure on the Pelicans to build a contender around him, as even the most ardent Zion supporter couldn’t have pictured him being this good, this early into his career.
Unfortunately for the Pelicans, the on court results have been disappointing in Williamson’s first two seasons in NOLA. Having missed the playoffs in back to back years, and up against the cap financially, there’s no simple solution for the Pelicans to address their roster woes. New Orleans currently owes Eric Bledsoe $18M in 2021-22, Steven Adams $35M over the next two campaigns, and Brandon Ingram a whopping $130M over the next 4 years. And all of that is owed before you factor in any new Ball/Hart deals in the offseason.
With a 31-41 record on the year, the Pelicans have only a 4.5% chance of landing the number 1 overall pick (with a 60.6% chance of picking 10th overall). So barring another draft night miracle, they can’t bank on another plug and play rookie coming in to save the day. New Orleans does have a bevy of future draft picks at their disposal (perhaps not to the degree that an Oklahoma City will have), but the question now becomes whether or not Zion will still be around when those picks turn into usable assets.
NOLA has the following picks at their disposal in upcoming drafts:
***The Lakers 2021 pick is 8-30 protected and unprotected in 2022
2021: Pelicans 1st, Cavaliers 2nd, Wizards 2nd, Bulls own pick swap rights with NOLA’s 2nd
2022: Pelicans 1st, Lakers 1st, Pelicans 2nd, Cavaliers 2nd, Utah Jazz 2nd
2023: Pelicans own pick swap rights with Lakers 1st, Nuggets 1st (lottery protected), Wizards 2nd, Pelicans 2nd (if it falls 46-60, it goes to the Hawks)
2024: Pelicans own pick swap rights with Bucks 1st, Lakers 1st (Pelicans can defer this to 2025), Pelicans 2nd, Charlotte Hornets 2nd
2025: Pelicans 1st, Bucks 1st, Pelicans 2nd
2026: Pelicans own pick swap rights with Bucks 1st, Pelicans 2nd
2027: Pelicans 1st, Bucks 1st, Pelicans 2nd
All that to say is that in the next 2-3 years, if constructed properly, New Orleans could have an extremely strong nucleus of young talent. Then again, knowing the Pelicans front office, they’re just as likely to squander these picks for a short term band aid solution to try to keep Zion happy as opposed to staying the course and building through the draft.
If we take it all the way back to the 2019 NBA draft lottery, when New Orleans won, Zion was whisked away almost immediately by his reps with a less than thrilled look on his face. Williamson has repeatedly shown love to New York and other big markets in interviews, and many in his inner circle are not so subtly wondering whether New Orleans is doing a good enough job promoting Zion as a player/brand in the basketball world.
The Pelicans ownership group isn’t exactly the epitome of stability, with rumours flying that the team could be on the move within the next 5 years if things don’t change. While the New Orleans faithful may feel love for their team, they haven’t been making things easy on the front office by packing the Smoothie King Centre on a nightly basis. NOLA has consistently ranked in the bottom 10 attendance figures across the league. Compound this with the fact that when the 2021-22 season tips off, Zion will be playing for his 3rd coach in 3 professional seasons, and you can see why the young superstar’s camp might be getting jittery.
That being said, and I cannot stress this enough, Zion needs to tread carefully here. This kind of AAU “jump ship to a different program at the drop of a hat” mentality isn’t going to fly in the professional ranks of sport. By all means, surround yourself with family and friends, and those you feel support and love you. Go nuts. But once you start taking career/financial advice from a 3rd cousin twice removed, as opposed to your agent, you’re going down a slippery slope.
As a professional athlete, you have one of the smallest windows to maximize your earnings of nearly any occupation on the planet. Any non-trade related move to see Zion leave New Orleans would require him to play out the final years of his rookie deal, followed by turning down the max contract extension that only the Pelicans could offer him (in today’s terms roughly $200M, but who knows what the cap could jump to in the future) and risk playing on a qualifying offer from another team. No other young superstar has turned down that kind of guaranteed money before in the NBA. And when you’re 6’7”, 284lbs and rely on explosive jumping ability as your bread and butter, your injury risk goes up exponentially.
There’s a reason fans in Memphis love Ja Morant’s highlight reel dunks, but also hold their breath every time he takes off. One significant knee, or achilles injury could be all it takes to derail a once promising career. Think about it for a moment. If Zion no longer had his dunking ability, and low post moves, what’s his NBA comparable? It’s a scary thought, and one that would affect his earning power (if not remove him from the league altogether) in the future.
We’ve yet to even see Zion play a full NBA schedule as both his seasons were affected by COVID. How his body would hold up over an 82 game schedule plus playoffs, plus Olympic team trials and all the other rights of passage that generational talents before him went through remains a mystery. So before fanbases of other franchises start getting their “We Want Zion” campaigns fired up, remember that unless we start hearing the word “hold out” come from the Williamson camp (and he wouldn’t be the first Pelicans player to threaten it in the franchises brief history), then in all likelihood, Zion isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
So yes, Zion’s entourage has every right to gripe, and leak rumours to the press in an attempt to find out whether the grass truly is greener elsewhere. But at the end of the day, the 20 year old, NBA sophomore needs to think carefully about how much of that chatter he takes to heart, versus what he ultimately takes to the bank.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner