The New Orleans Pelicans went out of their way to retain Zion Williamson in July 2022, offering him five more years for $197 million, but the big contract he signed had small print.
Williamson had missed important parts of his first three years in the NBA, including the entire 2021-22 season, and the Pelicans knew that his physical condition was not reliable, so they added various clauses that have now been revealed.
According to the contract, which was reviewed by The Athletic, the final three years of the deal are no longer guaranteed after Williamson was only able to play in 29 games last season. By missing more than 22 games last season, a clause was activated that converted the salary owed to him for the 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons from guaranteed to non-guaranteed. That means the Pelicans have the upper hand and could waive Williamson after the 2024-25 season. Additionally, if the player misses significant time this season, he could reduce his guaranteed salary for 2024-25.
It’s not all bad news for Zion, as the contract also includes ways for Williamson to guarantee a portion of his salary by playing enough points and, pay attention to this, not going overweight.
Williamson, 23, is in the first year of his five-year extension, and despite his improved reliability (he has only missed six games out of 29 played so far), his fitness remains a topic of concern. debate. The 22 points that he averages are despite his terrible condition, problems that have accompanied him since he entered the NBA and that forced his franchise to get healthy. Under the contract, the sum of Williamson’s weight in pounds and his body fat percentage must be less than 295. Last season he was listed at 285 pounds, meaning his body fat couldn’t be more than 10 percent. .
The Pelicans have also protected themselves in case Williamson has other major issues with the fifth metatarsal in his right foot. If he suffers a fracture or stress injury to that bone, half of his base salary for 2024-25 would no longer be guaranteed.
There are also possibilities for Williamson to be guaranteed parts of his salary again, or even all of it. Twenty percent of his salary for the 2025-26 season will be guaranteed if he passes all six weigh-in checkpoints during the 2024-25 season, another 40 percent if he plays in at least 41 games in the 2024-25 campaign and a additional 20 percent if he plays in at least 51 games. The final 20 percent is guaranteed again if he plays in at least 61 games, a formula that is repeated for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons.
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2023-12-22 05:40:00
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