> According to the contract, which was reviewed by The Athletic, the final three years of the deal are no longer guaranteed after Williamson was able to only play in 29 games last season. By missing more than 22 games last season, Williamson triggered a clause that turned the salary he is owed for the 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons from guaranteed to non-guaranteed. That means the Pelicans have the contractual power to waive Williamson after the 2024-25 season with no financial ramifications — though rival team executives believe that would only happen in extreme circumstances. And if Williamson misses significant time this season, it could cut into his guaranteed salary for 2024-25.
>The contract also has ways for Williamson to earn back the guarantees by playing in enough games and hitting specific weigh-in checkpoints.
[Source](https://theathletic.com/4913537/2023/12/21/zion-williamson-contract-pelicans-nba/?source=user_shared_article)
by urfaselol
35 Comments
If Zion were to somehow stay healthy then he’s at a great contract value at starting only 34M
He isn’t worth the money but you can’t waive him either.
They will not waive him.
damn, thats around 135 mil that just became non-guaranteed
Wait he agreed to that? 22 games ain’t even that many.
Good for the Pelicans I guess
It is more likely that he gets traded then cut.
contract negotiations probably felt contentious:
– body fat requirements
> Beyond the shift for the final three years of the deal, Williamson is at risk of losing even more in guarantees if he doesn’t hit certain marks during regular checks of his weight and body fat. Under the contract, the sum of Williamson’s weight in pounds and his body fat percentage must be less than 295. He was listed as weighing 285 pounds last season, meaning his body fat could not be higher than 10 percent.
– if he hurts 1 specific bone, he can lose half his yearly salary
> The Pelicans also have protected themselves in case Williamson has any further significant issues with the fifth metatarsal in his right foot. If he suffers a fracture or a stress injury to that bone or the healed callus, or has what the contract calls a “hardware failure” related to the previous injury there, then half of his base salary for 2024-25 would no longer be guaranteed if the team released him.
Greg Oden when he’s not the worst bust in nba history anymore:
I guess we’ll take him and add him to our Williams, Williams, Williams lineup.
Get ready to learn Pistons, pal!
Why is he the first nba star to get a nfl RB contract lmao who was his agent ?
This is real cap wizardry from the Pelicans FO and makes his contract significantly more tradeable if need be. David Griffin masterclass
Wow can’t believe he and his agent agreed to that. If Zion shows no sign of staying fit/on the court then he can be easily traded to someone who will want to take a risk on him.
You mean we did our due diligence and structured it well? Now if only we could do that with our line-ups on the court.
Waive him
Super tradeable contract then.
Just makes him more valuable in a trade, good move by Pelicans FO
No way he gets waived unless something crazy happens. Other teams will take a chance on him, and offer a lot for the opportunity to do so
They aren’t just gonna let him go for nothing in return. They’ll likely trade him if he refuses to condition his body the way that they’d like him to. There’s always a team out there desperate enough to make somebody else’s problem their problem. The Poverty Pistons would love Zion I’m sure.
Lmfao they are not waiving him unless he commits a crime. And even then, probably not- looking at the Miles Bridges situation as an example
For those confused as to why Zion’s agent agreed to this, the simple answer is that they have no leverage and Zion has a history of missing games, this is simply to protect teams from being tied into a long-term commitment. Most rookies rarely turn down the max contract extension to take the Q/O so they can opt out and become a free agent.
Do I think Zion will bounce back? Absolutely. Embiid did and he was also given a similar contract as well:
>Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid’s five-year, $146.5 million maximum extension is essentially guaranteed but protects the franchise financially should Embiid suffer a contractually specific catastrophic injury, league sources told ESPN.
>
>Embiid, 23, signed the rookie-scale max extension Tuesday, with the $146.5 million total for the deal based on the NBA’s new salary-cap projections for the 2018-19 season.
>
>Here’s how a perfect storm of calamity would have to unfold for Embiid to earn any less than the full $146.5 million: Across each of the final four seasons of the extension, ending with the 2022-23 season, the 76ers could waive Embiid for a financial benefit if he’s lost because of a contractually agreed-upon injury that causes him to miss 25 or more regular-season games and if he plays fewer than 1,650 minutes, league sources said.
>
>Specific injuries are laid out in the contract and include only past problem areas with Embiid’s feet and back, sources said. Embiid has to miss 25 or more regular-season games because of injuries to those areas, and play fewer than 1,650 minutes, for Philadelphia to have the option of releasing him for cost savings.
>
>For example, if Embiid hypothetically suffered a serious knee or wrist injury — something outside the contractual language surrounding the feet and back — the 76ers would have no avenue to waive Embiid to reclaim any portion of his salary. And given Embiid’s rare talent, there’s a belief that he’d have to suffer a career-ending injury to inspire the 76ers to release him. [https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20985023/joel-embiid-extension-protects-philadelphia-76ers-case-contractually-specific-catastrophic-injury](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20985023/joel-embiid-extension-protects-philadelphia-76ers-case-contractually-specific-catastrophic-injury)
How bad does this sub think Zion is?
Absolutely no shot they waive him. They’re still committed to building around him
Future Clipper
my hot take is this doesn’t really matter at all because no team is going to actually waive him and lose him for nothing.
Homie has to step on a scale to be weight checked before getting paid. Valid, honestly, but lmao… if that doesn’t say something…
Bust. Too bad.
This is big from a trade potential standpoint if a receiving team keeps the same right
Lowers his risk for potential suitors
Imagine having a clause so Zion doesn’t eat himself out of the league
T Ty uur y
ah sure they’ll waive the generational talent
Do it, you cowards.
So … if Zion were a free agent at the end of this year, how much would he get?
He’s not getting the contract he got, that’s for sure.
>Under the contract, the sum of Williamson’s weight in pounds and his body fat percentage must be less than 295.
Why does this matter? There’s zero chance they waive him. Zeeo