“Always Been Very Clear”: Pelicans VP Admits Having No Doubt Zion Williamson Would Sign the Extension
Following a five-year, $193 million rookie agreement with the Pelicans, Zion Williamson will stay in New Orleans. Williamson has only played 85 games in three NBA seasons due to a string of ailments, including a foot injury that caused him to miss the entire 2021–22 season.
However, Williamson, the top choice out of Duke in 2019, has demonstrated that he is a dynamic talent when he is on the court, averaging 25.7 points on 60.4 percent shooting in his brief professional career. Zion Williamson has only expressed his desire to stay and succeed with the New Orleans Pelicans although whispers of his unhappiness and discontent have been circulating.
Zion has always wanted to stay with the Pelicans, so it never came from him, but it seemed like some individuals surrounding the budding star wanted to see him in a bigger market. In a SiriusXM Radio NBA interview, Pelicans VP of Basketball Operations David Griffin stated that it was apparent to him that Zion wanted to remain with the Pelicans.
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Pelicans VP was sure that Zion Williamson wanted to stay
“In terms of whether he wanted to stay, Zion had always been very clear with us about what he wanted, about what his goal set was. He never wavered off of that.”
"Zion had always been very clear with us about what he wanted."@pelicans EVP of Basketball Operations @dg_riff tells @talkhoops & @DarthAmin if he ever had any doubt Zion Williamson would sign his extension. #SummerPelicans pic.twitter.com/j1CJjx5HoJ
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) July 16, 2022
Griffin has also assembled a roster that Zion wants to play on. This is a good Pelicans squad, led by Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum on offense, along with Devonte’ Graham, Larry Nance Jr., Herb Jones, and others. Without Williamson, New Orleans defeated top-seeded Phoenix in six games in the 2022 playoffs’ first round after winning two games in the Play-In Tournament.
They accomplished this with a team that had the high-scoring wing Brandon Ingram, the seasoned guard CJ McCollum, the big Jonas Valanciunas, as well as a supporting cast of eager young players who flourished under Willie Green, a first-time NBA head coach.
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