Zion is pretty special. That can’t be denied. Udoka being up his ass all damn season is intriguing at worst.
Zion is an amazing talent, but at the same time he can’t stay healthy. It’s a huge risk attaching your wagon to his health. Anyone who’s watched sports for any extended period of time knows that some folks are injury prone. And Zion fits the bill to a “T”…. The only way he plays a full season, and thus can have any sort of an extended career is if you limit his minutes to 24 minutes per game, at a max! New Orleans has already found out that Zion might have heart, but his heart is bigger way than his body can keep up with that body of his. A shame that he is extremely fun to watch but will break down sooner rather than later.
It’s a glaring red flag for a guy that young to have so many conditioning and injury problems. We should look for a ‘star’ somewhere else.
EDIT: But if you're just going to use the 3 on a stiff like Klingon, I think you'd be better off trading the 3 for a risk like Zion honestly.
Probably at least 3 of our core if Sengun isn’t included. Either way one of the core pieces included will be either Sengun or Jalen and then add Jabari and Tari because the Pelicans aren’t interested in rebuilding they’re going to want ready to contribute players.
Lmao, dude you are exactly the type of uninformed poster I was talking about and why this thread really is full of misinformation. His contract is not guaranteed unless he meets weight, games played, and existing injury (hardware) requirements every single year. He has to qualify to have each of the following years of his contract guaranteed in the prior year. This is essentially a KPJ type contract on a star level 23 year old. What are you even going on about that he has never played more than 40 games? He just played 70 games this season, the same as Luka and Maxey, and 27% more than Donovan who the team is targeting.
The redundancy in positions is a valid point, if that is the thought process and reasoning that is fine, I was just saying it should not be dismissed over his contract or availability especially at 23 years old and given the flexibility of his current contract, if it is really that big of an issue and the league sees it that way, then the asking price should be very low. I do not think it will be that low. I am hoping we do start looking at similar situations as Zions, we are not going to get a perfect player in any scenario, whoever we get will be a bit of a risk or they likely would not be available. I can not think of a single player we could trade for that will not come with risk. Donovan is the rumored trade target, and he only played 55 games and missed crucial playoff games leading to his teams elimination. Even guys like Ja that would be a bit of a reach to make calls on, would come with injury and off court risk.
Non-guaranteed? I was not aware of that. I’ve seen nothing to indicate his contract is non- guaranteed. Link?
https://www.spotrac.com/nba/player/_/id/31558/zion-williamson No All-NBA: $193M (25%) All-NBA: $231M (30%) Guaranteed seasons became non-guaranteed due to games played clause: 2024-25: 50% guaranteed, fully guaranteed 1/7/25 2025-26: non-guaranteed, fully guaranteed 7/15/25 2026-27: non-guaranteed, fully guaranteed 7/15/26 2027-28: non-guaranteed, fully guaranteed 7/15/27 Guarantee triggers exist if certain criteria has been met: 20% of 2025-26 salary becomes guaranteed if passes all six of his weigh-in checkpoints during the 2024-25 season 40% of 2025-26 salary becomes guaranteed if plays >= 41 games during 2024-25 season, additional 20% if plays >= 51 games, remaining 20% if plays >= 61 games. Salaries for 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons can be re-guaranteed if above metrics are hit the season prior Further protections via: Weight must be less than 295 lbs; body fat monitored Injury sustained to right foot
I posted about it in this thread, post #67. Simply google search has dozens of articles on his contract details. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryant...mark-for-guaranteed-contract/?sh=25acfe1f4e4d
Well, certainly, if the GM makes this move, then of course I am looking at Stone another way.......at least he has done something. He has struck me as a tentative, politics driven and low risk GM so far, it would change my view a tad of him.
I said it on another thread, but if we can get Zion on a discount (Brooks, Landale, Tate) plus whatever non-crazy pick compensation… I think you have to seriously consider taking that deal. (Prefer not to include Adams, but it ain’t off the table.) same applies to Brandon Ingram, but Ingram gets less because he is not locked into a contract.
