Zion Williamson’s agency isn’t expected to pursue trade ahead of Feb. 6 deadline

Zion Williamson’s agency isn’t expected to pursue trade ahead of Feb. 6 deadline

The New Orleans Pelicans have had the worst possible start to the 2024-25 season, and a big reason has been because of the litany of injuries to the team’s best players.

Zion Williamson is unfortunately one of those players. The tantalizing forward has missed all but six games with a hamstring injury without a clear timetable for return, even though he was limited in practice this week.

Even though he still has three more years left on his deal beyond this year, Williamson has played just 190 games in six seasons, sparking the conversation on whether or not he could be moved ahead of the trade deadline given the circumstances.

Though according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and Bobby Marks, Williamson’s new agency isn’t expected to pursue a trade for their client ahead of the Feb. 6 deadline.

“Williamson changed representation after suffering the latest injury, hiring WME’s Bill Duffy, a longtime agent who also represents stars such as Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards and Chet Holmgren. Sources told ESPN that Duffy has no intention to push for the Pelicans to trade Williamson before the deadline,” their report Tuesday read. “The team announced Dec. 24 that Williamson will be ‘week-to-week going forward’ after his expected return to practice in the final days of December. The focus — for all parties involved — is to get Williamson back on the floor without further injury interruption.

“If the Pelicans and Williamson eventually part ways, it probably would be much different from the previous two times New Orleans traded its face of the franchise. Chris Paul and Anthony Davis succeeded in forcing their way out of town despite the franchise’s desire to keep the future Hall of Famers. This time, it could be the Pelicans who reach the conclusion that it’s in the franchise’s best interests to move on from Williamson.”

According to one East executive who spoke with Marks and MacMahon, pinpointing Williamson’s trade value on the open market is no easy task–especially because he’s on the books for $163 million for the next four seasons.

“It’s really hard to see anybody paying a ton for him right now, but there are a very limited number of players in the league when healthy who are at or near the franchise-player tier,” the East executive said, according to the report. “The only way you win at the highest level is to have a guy who can do the type of things he can do if he’s healthy.

“I would probably do something stupid to get him if it were me making decisions.”

Report: Pelicans prioritizing moving Brandon Ingram by trade deadline

The biggest issue with that, however, is potentially getting little value in return because of the uncertainty of Williamson’s health. His contract is structured to where his contract will be non-guaranteed from 2024-28, and it becomes fully guaranteed based on him fulfilling seven benchmarks (weight, availability) the previous season.

It’s one of the most creative contracts in the NBA, but still not worth overpaying for if there’s no guarantee he stays healthy. The opportune time to trade for him would be next offseason when his 2025-26 guarantee will potentially be lower with fewer years.

But, as they say, it takes two to tango.

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