NBA writer Will Guillory of The Athletic spoke to a person associated with a team in Las Vegas during summer league who urged the New Orleans Pelicans to trade Zion Williamson.
There have been several questions about Williamson’s diet and commitment to basketball since he’s only played 114 out of possible 308 regular-season games since being drafted by the Pelicans with the first overall pick in the 2019 draft out of Duke.
“During my time in Vegas, I heard opinions from a few folks who were all over the place when it comes to Zion Williamson and his current value,” Guillory wrote. “I had one person associated with a team tell me New Orleans should pull the plug on his era while they have the chance this offseason.”
Williamson played in 24 games in his rookie year and 61 games in his sophomore year. The lefty then missed his entire third year and appeared in just 29 games last season.
When he’s been on the court, Williamson has been a superstar. The North Carolina native has career averages of 25.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting 60.5% from the floor. However, the Pelicans are only 57-57 when Williamson plays.
The Pelicans were interested in trading up in the 2023 draft to select Scoot Henderson. There were rumors about New Orleans trading Williamson to the Portland Trail Blazers, who drafted Henderson. However, no deal was made.
Williamson signed a five-year, $194.3 million designated rookie contract extension with the Pelicans in July 2022. New Orleans vice president of basketball operations David Griffin told Sirus XM Radio during Summer League in Las Vegas that the franchise’s relationship with Williamson is “as good as it’s ever been.”
Williamson told former NBA guard Gilbert Arenas that he’s not intentionally missing games and badly wants to play.
“I’m a hooper,” Williamson said. “When I’m sitting on the sidelines watching my teammates in certain games they’re losing, I know if I was out there, I could change the outcome. What I want people to know about me is I just want to hoop. I want to be out there. Nobody wants to just sit on the sideline. I think that’s what I want people to understand. I don’t want to be on the sideline. Y’all think I want to sit over there hurt? I don’t.”
Williamson is expected to be healthy once training camp starts. It will be interesting to see how many games he plays in 2023-24.
More must-reads: