Report: Pelicans Will Trade Zion Williamson, Keep Willie Green

According to Shamit Dua of In The N.O., the New Orleans Pelicans will trade Zion Williamson this summer. 

The Pelicans, who hired Joe Dumars as their new president of basketball operations, won’t fire head coach Willie Green.

“Yet instead of a rebuild, the directive is clear: Trade Zion Williamson, retain a coach in Willie Green who lost the locker room, and hope Dumars’ fading executive legacy — built on his 2004 Pistons title but marred by two decades of irrelevance — can paper over systemic dysfunction,” Dua wrote.

The Pelicans went 21-61 this season. They had the second-worst record in the West. 

New Orleans fired David Griffin on Tuesday. 

“Multiple sources have relayed to me that fates of Williamson and Green have been sealed with the hiring of Dumars,” Dua wrote. “Pelicans ownership was livid over Williamson’s recent off-court headlines. One person familiar with ownership’s thinking described this event as the straw that broke the camel’s back. This seems largely hypocritical given their public backing or pursuit of scandalous headline grabbers in Sean Payton, Deshaun Watson, and Alvin Kamara.”

Williamson has played in just 45% of his possible games with the Pelicans since being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. The lefty has never played in a postseason game. 

Williamson appeared in 30 games for the Pelicans this season. He averaged 24.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists while shooting 56.7% from the field and 65.6% from the free-throw line. 

A two-time All-Star, Williamson has career averages of 24.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 214 games. 

The Pelicans signed Williamson to a five-year, $197 million extension in 2022. Williamson will make $39,446,090 next season, $42,166,510 in 2026-27 and $44,886,930 in 2027-28, the final season of his contract. 

Green was hired by New Orleans in 2021. He is 148-180 in the regular season and 2-8 in the playoffs.