Austin Brown, basketball co-head of CAA Sports, told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson has agreed to a five-year, नियुक्त 193 million hired maximum rookie extension that could earn him up to $ 231 million.
If Williamson builds an All-NBA team, winning MVP or Defensive Player of the Year next season, he will trigger a Supermax escalator clause that could increase the total value of the deal from $ 193 million to $ 231 million.
Williamson, ranked No. 1 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft, has proven to be a generation of talent since he stepped on the NBA floor.
During his rookie season, he averaged 22.4 points and scored 58.3% overall. According to ESPN statistics and information, Williamson joined Shaquille O’Neill (1992-93) and scored an average of 20 points per game while shooting at least 55% off the field, making him the second most dangerous in NBA history.
He was the first teenager to score 20 points in 10 consecutive games, according to ESPN statistics and information research, and achieved this feat in the 15th game of his career.
In the 2020-21 season, he averaged 27 points and 7.2 rebounds in each game, shooting 61.1% off the ground. His 27.0 points per game was the highest for any player in NBA history, having shot more than 60% off the field during the NBA season.
Williamson was named All-Star in his sophomore season as well as being selected late to start the game. Joining Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Magic Johnson, he became the fourth youngest All-Star starter.
In his last 20 games of the season, Williamson’s score rose to 29.6 points per game as he scored at least 30 points in those 11 tournaments. Williamson joined Shakil O’Neill in 2001 as the only player in NBA history to score 20 percent or more in 25 consecutive games, shooting 50 percent or better.
At the end of the year, Williamson became only the 12th player in NBA history to score at least 2,000 points in his first 80 games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He became only the second player to do so in the last 40 seasons and the first to do so after Michael Jordan.
Williamson jumped from an average of 2.1 to 3.7 per game as he took on more ball handling duties under former coach Stan van Gundi and removed “Point Zion” from the Pelicans. It remains to be seen whether he resumes those duties under the leadership of Willie Green.
Green led the Pelicans to the Western Conference play-in tournament last season where they won at home against the San Antonio Spurs and a road victory against the Los Angeles Clippers to finish No. 8 in the playoffs. The Pelicans took two games before taking six against top-ranked Phoenix Suns.
New Orleans started last season at 3-16, but ended 36-46 years to return to the playoffs. The Pelicans traded last season for CJ McCallum ahead of the NBA’s trade deadline, which helped the team spark their late-season run.
Williamson, who turns 22 on July 6, has played just 85 games in his first three seasons in the NBA, including 24 games in his rookie season in 2019-20, as a torn meniscus in his right knee delayed his debut and missed the entire 2021. Right leg broken -22 campaign.
In May, Pelican officially allowed Williamson to return with a foot injury that caused him to step aside and he returned to work on the court without any restrictions. Along with McCullum, Brandon Ingram and healthy Williamson, the Pelicans are looking to enter the Western Conference standings next season.
When Williamson made his first public comment since breaking his leg on April 29, he was asked about a possible expansion and whether he was going to expand with New Orleans. “Of course, I won’t be able to sign it so soon,” he replied.
At a local YMCA event last month, Williamson reiterated his desire to live in New Orleans and said: “I want to live here. It’s no secret. When I speak, I feel like I’m standing on it.”