Zion Williamson Could Sign $100 Million Extension This Summer

The New Orleans Pelicans may be 12th in the West standings, but that doesn’t mean we should expect a full-scale rebuild this offseason. In fact, we could see the Pelicans run it back with one of their leading stars.

According to NBA insider Shamit Dua, the franchise is set on offering Zion Williamson a three-year, $100 million contract extension in the summer that will keep him in town for several years to come. This is despite a lengthy injury history for Williamson, which has limited his playtime drastically since he was drafted.

“I think Zion’s going to get extended,” said Dua, via HoopsHype. “When Joe Dumars got here, there were some tough conversations had with Zion about what the expectation is for professionalism. And to Dumars’s credit, Zion really took that to heart. He really wants to be in New Orleans, and he really, really wants the narrative on him to flip. I would model it after Julius Randle’s extension… around three years, $100 million or so. Around 30 to $35 million a year. I think it’s a good sweet spot for Zion.”

It hasn’t been easy going for Zion Williamson. Coming out of the draft, he was drawing comparisons to LeBron James, with projections labelling him as the NBA’s next big superstar. The Pelicans built their entire team around him, with aspirations of building a true contender in the West.

Sadly, things have not gone according to plan. Injuries have drastically limited Zion’s availability, and his poor conditioning habits led some fans to question his commitment to the game itself. Over the years, the situation has only gotten worse for Williamson, and he’s growing desperate to make things better.

This season, while he’s averaging a solid 21.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game on 59.5% shooting and 25.0% shooting from three, it hasn’t been enough to make the Pelicans competitive, and there’s a sense that something has to change. In fact, many fans have called for the franchise to move on from Williamson while he still has some trade value left.

The problem for the Pelicans is that Zion is virtually untradeable right now. With another three years and $125 million left on his contract, no team is going to take on that salary for a player with such an extensive injury history. If they extend his contract by another two years on top of that, it will only make it harder to find a suitable trade partner.

For a Pelicans team that’s been struggling for a while now, it doesn’t seem like Zion has earned that extension, but there will be plenty of time for him to prove his worth. At just 25 years old, Williamson’s career is only just getting started, and we’ve seen enough flashes from him to know that he can still play at a high level.

The key for him going forward will be consistency. If he gets his body right and maintains a steady rhythm on the court, it could be enough to justify the Pelicans extending his contract. If he keeps going like this, however, the Pels could learn a serious lesson about hitching their future to someone who has proven to be so unreliable.