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Zion Should Not Play Another Game For the Pelicans
Posted on 12/15/25 at 12:34 am
Posted on 12/15/25 at 12:34 am
Time to shut him down and trade him. He came back ahead of schedule, played okay, we won. Time to pull the plug. He will get injured again if we continue to play with fire. He should be traded by the end of this week.
6
Posted on 12/15/25 at 2:19 am to 3PieceSpicy
If we find someone stupid enough to gives us some picks right now, sure, but I doubt that even Bulls are so dumb.
And since we want to win some games he has to play, preferably from the bench till January at least.
If he got injured again, who gives a frick, if we're not getting anything meaningful for him, we can try to trade him in the offseason or cut him.
And since we want to win some games he has to play, preferably from the bench till January at least.
If he got injured again, who gives a frick, if we're not getting anything meaningful for him, we can try to trade him in the offseason or cut him.
Posted on 12/15/25 at 2:26 am to 3PieceSpicy
He MUST GO now. He does NOT want to be here in NoLa.
What a waste of human flesh.
What a waste of human flesh.
Posted on 12/15/25 at 5:05 am to 3PieceSpicy
I did not think he'd try to come back this soon. Reports had him out another week at least. But if he's healthy, and wants to play, we can not stop him. Trades weren't really an option until today due to the calendar. But now they can move him if there is a decent deal.
Just so we understand the nature of his contract, I found this quote that explains his benchmarks..
"Williamson has a unique contract. He technically has two more years on his deal after this season, but his salary only gets guaranteed if he meets certain thresholds, per Spotrac. He is due $42.1 million for the 2026-27 season, but he needs to pass all six of his weigh-in checkpoints during the current season to get 20% of the salary guaranteed. If he plays over half the games, he gets another 40% guaranteed. If he plays at least 51 games, he gets additional 20% guaranteed. He gets his salary fully guaranteed only if he plays a minimum of 61 games. There are further protections attached to his weight, body fat, and right foot injury."
We have 55 games left, Zion has played in 11 games. I'm sure his reps have let him know that he needs to play as many games as possible the remainder of this year. If he plays 40 more games, he'll guarantee 80% of his contract. If he plays 50 more, that will fully guarantee his deal for next year.
If we try to stop him, or not play him, he'll have the right to file against us. That's the double edge sword of a contract like this, that's based on performance. He has to be allowed to play to meet his thresholds.
Just so we understand the nature of his contract, I found this quote that explains his benchmarks..
"Williamson has a unique contract. He technically has two more years on his deal after this season, but his salary only gets guaranteed if he meets certain thresholds, per Spotrac. He is due $42.1 million for the 2026-27 season, but he needs to pass all six of his weigh-in checkpoints during the current season to get 20% of the salary guaranteed. If he plays over half the games, he gets another 40% guaranteed. If he plays at least 51 games, he gets additional 20% guaranteed. He gets his salary fully guaranteed only if he plays a minimum of 61 games. There are further protections attached to his weight, body fat, and right foot injury."
We have 55 games left, Zion has played in 11 games. I'm sure his reps have let him know that he needs to play as many games as possible the remainder of this year. If he plays 40 more games, he'll guarantee 80% of his contract. If he plays 50 more, that will fully guarantee his deal for next year.
If we try to stop him, or not play him, he'll have the right to file against us. That's the double edge sword of a contract like this, that's based on performance. He has to be allowed to play to meet his thresholds.
Posted on 12/15/25 at 7:01 am to IM42lane
quote:
What a waste of human flesh.
You shouldn’t talk about yourself like this.
Zion came back 2 weeks ahead of schedule from an injury AND was ok coming off the bench to help the team win. This whole “He doesn’t want to be in NOLA” narrative is absolute nonsense.
Posted on 12/15/25 at 7:31 am to Soggymoss
quote:
Zion came back 2 weeks ahead of schedule from an injury AND was ok coming off the bench to help the team win. This whole “He doesn’t want to be in NOLA” narrative is absolute nonsense.
Its weird that you think any of that mattered to him. He came back because of money. He has to play to guarantee his money for next year. That's it.
Zion does not like being a professional basketball player. I'm sure he loves to play and likes the game. But he doesn't like everything else that goes along with it (diet, training, recovery, traveling, study, etc..). He plays cause he makes a ridiculous amount of money to do it. Its all transactional to him.
For what it's worth, I don't blame him for that. Its a hard, grueling lifestyle. If you hand me 2 million in cash, I'd quit today and never work again. Hes made over 200M in his career already. Hes just coasting at this point..
Posted on 12/15/25 at 7:34 am to brmark70816
Loading Twitter/X Embed...
If tweet fails to load, click here. This is not coasting.
He will get that money anywhere based on his potential alone and he knows that. If he wanted to coast just to get the money he would put the bare minimum effort forward. He has done way more than that recently. Now 2 years ago I would agree he was coasting
Posted on 12/15/25 at 8:29 am to brmark70816
While all of that is true about his contract and the guarantees, i'm pretty sure at this moment right now, the next two years of his contract are not guaranteed at all, so we could cut him today and not owe him anything for next year or the following year. That is b/c he's already failed to meet the criteria so nothing is guaranteed anymore unless we choose to guarantee it for another year, or he meets the criteria again to guarantee it for that year. And that means it's just next year that gets guaranteed, not the final year. He'd have to meet all the criteria again next year to guarantee the final year. So that means we have until basically the end of the season to cut him and not owe him anything going forward, if we wanted to go that route.
And if we can't get anything for him in a trade, then i'm all for just cutting his arse.
I think its a bigger deal than people think that he came off the bench last night. He still played 27 minutes, which is about normal for him on some nights, so saying he had a minutes restriction as the reason he didn't start doesnt' really make much sense. They pretty much let him know you aren't the star player on this team anymore. We've got two rookies who we are building around from here on out and we're basically done with you being the focal point of this team.
I do like that Jordan Poole seemed to enjoy Fears success and played well off the bench. I thought he'd be upset about coming off the bench but even Fears talked about how much Poole talks with him and gives him advice, and he seemed genuinely happy for Fears after the game. I like how the team is seeming to embrace the two rookies and are recognizing their talent as somethign special and trying to help them succeed.
And if we can't get anything for him in a trade, then i'm all for just cutting his arse.
I think its a bigger deal than people think that he came off the bench last night. He still played 27 minutes, which is about normal for him on some nights, so saying he had a minutes restriction as the reason he didn't start doesnt' really make much sense. They pretty much let him know you aren't the star player on this team anymore. We've got two rookies who we are building around from here on out and we're basically done with you being the focal point of this team.
I do like that Jordan Poole seemed to enjoy Fears success and played well off the bench. I thought he'd be upset about coming off the bench but even Fears talked about how much Poole talks with him and gives him advice, and he seemed genuinely happy for Fears after the game. I like how the team is seeming to embrace the two rookies and are recognizing their talent as somethign special and trying to help them succeed.
Posted on 12/15/25 at 8:44 am to 3PieceSpicy
quote:
Time to shut him down and trade him.
If they are going to trade him, they won't get anything if they leave him on the bench and say, "Trust us he is healthy." That won't fly. They need him to play and play very well to trade him.
Posted on 12/15/25 at 8:52 am to bstaceyau19
quote:
If they are going to trade him, they won't get anything if they leave him on the bench and say, "Trust us he is healthy." That won't fly. They need him to play and play very well to trade him.
Teams don't dress out guys that are on the trade block all the time.
It's why Chris Kaman didn't even move to New Orleans when we originally got him in the Chris Paul trade. (He ended up playing after we couldn't deal him)
It's why AD didn't dress out for the entire second half of his last season here.
This post was edited on 12/15/25 at 8:59 am
Posted on 12/15/25 at 9:00 am to Broski
quote:
Teams don't dress out guys that are on the trade block all the time.
It's why Chris Kaman didn't even move to New Orleans when we originally got him in the Chris Paul trade. (He ended up playing after we couldn't deal him)
It's why AD didn't dress out for the entire second half of his last season here.
True in a vaccuum.
False for Zion. This is Zion. Zion misses 3 months for a broken nail. You cannot park his butt on the bench to trade him and claim he is healthy. No one will believe you.
Posted on 12/15/25 at 9:04 am to bstaceyau19
Baw... you're insane if you think GMs don't have a little bit more inside info than the public does.
Stop being dramatic.
Stop being dramatic.
Posted on 12/15/25 at 9:27 am to brmark70816
quote:
I'm sure he loves to play and likes the game. But he doesn't like everything else that goes along with it (diet, training, recovery, traveling, study, etc..
Dude never had to put any effort into being awesome at the amateur level. I don't think he had any idea the rigors of being a professional basketball player. When he found out how difficult it was to be great, and that he can make millions sitting on his couch playing pokémon on his Xbox and getting blown by hookers, he phoned it in.
Posted on 12/15/25 at 9:39 am to TeddyPadillac
quote:
i'm pretty sure at this moment right now, the next two years of his contract are not guaranteed at all, so we could cut him today and not owe him anything for next year or the following year
I am not sure about that. This year is fully guaranteed. If we cut him, with no cause, he could contend that we sabotaged his value, and intentionally sabotaged his ability to earn his contract for next season. So we acted in bad faith. What would be your reasoning for cutting or waiving him?
quote:
So that means we have until basically the end of the season to cut him and not owe him anything going forward, if we wanted to go that route.
I think you just misspoke here. Hes going to make all his weigh ins, so the 20% is guaranteed for next season. I'm pretty sure he'll hit at least 41 games this year, unless he seriously injured. So that'll be 60%. That's over 24M. So, maybe we can save 16ish million by cutting him at the end of the year (if he doesnt play over 41 games). I just dont see us doing that. Given the numbers, there just isn't much value. I think we are kind of stuck with him.
The only way I think a team trades for him now is if he has a season ending injury and they only have to pay him the 20% on his deal (cut him and save 32M). Although we could cut him and get the same benefit.
I could see a team like the Cavs being really into that. If we did a 3 team deal us, Cavs and Nets. Garland to the Nets, Zion to the Cavs, and MJP to us. The Cavs could cut/waive Zion and save 32M, plus a ton in repeater taxes. That's the only way he'll have big value right now and get us something decent back.
Posted on 12/15/25 at 10:36 am to TeddyPadillac
quote:
think its a bigger deal than people think that he came off the bench last night. He still played 27 minutes, which is about normal for him on some nights, so saying he had a minutes restriction as the reason he didn't start doesnt' really make much sense. They pretty much let him know you aren't the star player on this team anymore
San Antonio must’ve been telling Wemby the same thing bringing him off the bench in OKC. That bum
Posted on 12/15/25 at 10:52 am to brmark70816
quote:
I am not sure about that. This year is fully guaranteed. If we cut him, with no cause, he could contend that we sabotaged his value, and intentionally sabotaged his ability to earn his contract for next season. So we acted in bad faith. What would be your reasoning for cutting or waiving him?
We don't have to have a reason. He didn't meet the criteria to guarantee the next two years. We don't owe him that money right now, key words being right now. If we cut him, for any reason we want, we don't owe him that money the next 2 years. That's his fault, and not sure how anyone would favor him in a judgement as they could simply say that he had his chance to guarantee that money and he didn't.
quote:
Hes going to make all his weigh ins, so the 20% is guaranteed for next season. I'm pretty sure he'll hit at least 41 games this year, unless he seriously injured. So that'll be 60%. That's over 24M.
That part i'm not sure how the contract is structured. All we can see is that the contract gets guaranteed on July 15th if he met the criteria from the previous year or if we decide to keep him even though he didn't meet the criteria (like this year). So while he may meet all the criteria in April, the contract doesn't legally get guaranteed until July 15th, unless there's provisions along the way that show once he meets a criteria it guarantees that salary that day. If that's how it works, the 20% weigh ins can't go into affect until April 1st, his last weigh in. The 40% for 41 games wouldn't go into affect until he plays that game. We have 57 games left and he's played in 11 of them so far. If he hits the 41 game mark, that would be in early March as i assume fatass still can't play b2b games considering he's played in only 1 of them since the start of last year. So basically he won't have any guarantees unil March, meaning if we cut him before March we owe him nothing after this year. Now that would be pretty shitty to do in say in February if he's been playing and expects to hit the 41 game mark and his weigh ins, but i'd still say you go back to the he had his chance to guarantee the future money and he didn't.
But I do agree with you that the closer we get to him playing 41 games and meeting the weigh in, basically early March, then yes the shittier it would look to cut him.
The only way i think we'd cut him this offseason is if he had another major injury setback this year and he only played 20-30 games.
Posted on 12/15/25 at 10:58 am to Soggymoss
quote:
San Antonio must’ve been telling Wemby the same thing bringing him off the bench in OKC. That bum
You mean the game Wemby played 21 minutes in, when he averages 33.6?
Zion played 27 minutes, and averages 30 this year, 28 last year.
Posted on 12/15/25 at 11:04 am to TeddyPadillac
Both scenarios were to achieve the same goal, stay within the minutes restricted set out by the medical staff and still be able to keep them in the closing lineup.
Posted on 12/15/25 at 11:34 am to 3PieceSpicy
If we can't get value out of trading him, we just have to accept that his body won't allow him to play 30+MPG
We've seen it in the play-in game, his style of play is not conductive to a long and healthy career. too much force, not enough finesse.
We've seen it in the play-in game, his style of play is not conductive to a long and healthy career. too much force, not enough finesse.
Posted on 12/15/25 at 1:22 pm to brmark70816
quote:
Its weird that you think any of that mattered to him. He came back because of money. He has to play to guarantee his money for next year.
Its weird that you think you know what matters to Zion. Though, if I were to guess (and that's all it would be), its a decent bit of both wanting to play and needing to play to get his money.
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