Zion Williamson Trade Rumors: Pelicans May Have Interest in Deals Not Including Picks

Zion Williamson's long-term future in New Orleans appears up in the air.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst said the Pelicans could trade Williamson as part of a deal to move up in the 2023 NBA draft or at some later point this summer as part of a deal for another player.

"There's just a lot of chatter in the league about what the Pelicans are looking to do," Windhorst said Thursday on Get Up. "They seem to be interested in trying to move up near the top of this draft and ... to do it would probably be to include Zion Williamson in a trade offer. We haven't really gotten much to the offer phase. There's still pre-draft negotiating at this point. But I've even been told the Pelicans have shown interest in maybe offering Zion in deals that wouldn't involve draft picks."

The Pelicans are widely rumored to have interest in guard Scoot Henderson, which would require them to trade up to the No. 2 or No. 3 pick in next Thursday's draft. The Charlotte Hornets (No. 2) and Portland Trail Blazers (No. 3) would undoubtedly listen to discussions that involve Williamson, but the fact that a deal would not be a no-brainer indicates how far the oft-injured star's stock has fallen.

Williamson is an All-NBA-caliber player when healthy, averaging 25.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game while shooting 60.5 percent from the floor over his four-year career.

The problem is Williamson has never been fully healthy since setting foot in the NBA. He has played in just 114 games in four years and has appeared in 30 games just once in a season. The "healthiest" season of Williamson's career saw him miss 21 games due to injury.

Couple that with the fact Williamson is owed $194.3 million over the next five seasons, and it's easy to see understand the concern.

That said, Williamson is a bonafide superstar when healthy. He's the type of talent who could transform the long-term outlook of a team and not the type of player who typically signs in Charlotte or Portland in free agency. The same could be said for New Orleans.

There's a high-risk, high-reward outlook for all parties that could be included in Williamson talks.