Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans have reached an agreement for a contract extension projected at 192.85 million dollars over 5 years (25% of the salary cap). It’s a super max extension that could reach $ 231 million (30% of the salary cap) if the winger is elected to an All-NBA Team during the coming season. This contract looks like this:
- 2023-24: $33.25 million (25% of salary cap)
- 2024-25: 35.91 million dollars
- 2025-26: 38.57 million dollars
- 2026-27: 41.23 million dollars
- 2027-28: 43.89 million dollars
But as one might imagine, there are certain protections. Indeed, if there are no options or bonuses in the event of a trade, the Pelicans have secured their backs given the winger’s injury history. According to Keith Smith, the contract would not be fully guaranteed and these guarantees would depend on the number of games played. We do not yet know the exact details, but the Pelicans have protected themselves in the event of multiple injuries, which would undoubtedly allow them to cut him by saving part of his salary (or a reduction in salary if he does not). does not reach the required number of matches).
In 2017 the Sixers extended Joel Embiid by also putting a lot of protections in his contract. In particular, there was a minimum number of minutes or games played for the contract to become fully guaranteed. A bet that paid off for both sides since in the end the Cameroonian validated all the bonuses. Hopefully for the Pelicans and Zion it will be the same.
Recall that Zion has only played 85 games since his draft in 2019, enough to already be All-Star.
There are no options in Zion Williamson’s contract extension with the New Orleans Pelicans, as David Griffin told us. There is also no trade bonus.
The Pelicans do have protections in the deal should Williamson miss significant games in the future, a league source tells @spotrac.— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 10, 2022