Zion Williamson’s injury news complicates his contract extension

As fans of the New Orleans Pelicans are painfully aware, Zion Williamson has not played a single game this season and probably won’t.

We’ve been waiting over six weeks for an update, and we finally, sort of, got one when Christian Clark reported that Zion may need a second surgery on his foot, which apparently is not healing.

I don’t think this is a surprise to most fans, as we assumed that the weeks of silence were not a good thing and that there was a good chance Zion Williamson would not play this season.

But Zion is eligible for a massive extension this offseason, which he should be eager to sign. The New Orleans Pelicans can offer him more, and even if Zion ultimately wanted out (there is no indication that he does) he would be smart to sign an extension first.

Things aren’t as cut and dry for the New Orleans Pelicans, who may end up offering Zion Williamson the quirkiest contract in the NBA.

Zion Williamson’s injury and extension with the New Orleans Pelicans

Zion Williamson has only played in 85 games since being drafted by the New Orleans Pelicans and he has now missed 117 games with various injuries.

There is no way the Pelicans can just offer him a bog-standard max extension, as he has not yet shown he can stay on the court long enough to be the cornerstone piece they thought they were getting when drafting him first overall.

The Pels are going to have to protect themselves with performance-based incentives in the contract, much the same way Philadelphia did with Joel Embiid when they extended him after he missed most of his first three seasons with injury.

This could lead to Zion Williamson having the most unique contract in the league, as his compensation may end up varying wildly depending on how many games he plays.

I don’t think the New Orleans Pelicans have much choice, as Zion’s injuries and his family’s reluctance to engage with the media has left them in a tricky situation.

If Zion Williamson were healthy and playing I think there is no doubt that he’d get the biggest rookie extension in history, but the way things are going, the Pelicans are going to have to hedge their bets with clauses in his contract that could complicate the entire situation.

In other words, this drama isn’t ending anytime soon.