Well, Zion Willaimson might finally be leaving the New Orleans Pelicans. After being selected number one overall, a string of injuries over the last five years has limited the team. Now that he is unavailable again and the team is last in the Western Conference, they’re done. They have said they’re open to trading any veterans from the team. So this doesn’t just mean Zion, but players like CJ McCollum, Dejunte Murray, and Brandon Ingram could also be on the move. However, Zion remains the most interesting. So, we will highlight some of the most intriguing trade destinations of the 24-year-old forward.
One of Zion's most likely landing spots might be another team at the bottom of the Western Conference. The Utah Jazz are an interesting spot for Zion. They are hungry to acquire talent and have the resources to absorb Zion's massive contract. How eager is Danny Ainge to take on an injury-prone 24-year-old making over 120 million dollars over the next three years? It's hard to say. But they’ve taken on talent like this in John Collins and Collin Sexton before, which has worked out so far for them.
The Jazz could send the Pelicans John Collins and Johnny Juzang plus some draft compensation, potentially the 2025 Cleveland 1st-round pick and/or the 2025 Minnesota 1st-round pick. This might be a lowball offer, but it’s hard to gauge what type of trade market there is left for Zion. At his contract amount, teams can’t afford to give up a ton to bring in someone so unreliable.
However, with the Jazz already tanking, there would be no pressure to see Zion play this year. They could keep him sidelined but still have a high draft pick. Then, see what the whole roster looks like next year with Lauri Markkanen, Zion Williamson, and their future rookie. With such low stakes and being far from competing, the Jazz might be looking to gamble like this.
Looking at another team that is at the bottom of the league in wins. The Washington Wizards have been aimless for a while. They’ve had some recent luck in the draft, landing the second pick last year, but this roster is far from complete. Zion could be the high-level scoring talent they’ve lacked.
A trade of Malcolm Brogdon and Marvin Bagley would make the deal financially viable. Then, the Wizards could negotiate draft picks. They have 29 draft picks over the next six years, most of which are seconds, but it could still be better than nothing for the Pelicans.
One of Pelican's other options if they can’t find a trade they like would be to release Zion in the Summer, voiding the rest of this contract. This trade would provide some draft capital and give them no long-term contracts in return.
This deal feels less likely, but if the Pelicans are genuinely committed to getting off Zion's money, this might be one of the easiest ways.
With the talent already in DC, this could be a relatively cheap gamble to supercharge their path back to relevancy.
The Trail Blazers are another team with low expectations for the season. They don’t have the talent to do much, but they could consider taking a gamble on Zion. With another former number-one pick on the team, they could swap, sending De’Andre Ayton and draft capital to the Pelicans for Zion.
With how young these teams already are and the trouble they’ve had developing talent in-house, this feels less likely than the other two. Considering Ayton would be bringing his development issues while being on contract for next season at nearly the same amount Zion makes, it’s less appealing. Unless Portland is willing to put up additional players or picks, it might be challenging to get done.
Alternatively, a more likely scenario would be a three-way trade with Portland. In this scenario, Portland would send a player like Jerami Grant or Anfernee Simons to a contender and use the assets from that to move for Zion.
This last trade scenario would be between the Brooklyn Nets and the Pelicans. The Nets do not plan to complete this team and want to make moves. They might be willing to take on Zion as a project with such an open roster. They could make a relatively easy deal by sending Ben Simmons to the Pelicans and Zion to the Nets. The money works out reasonably well, and the Nets would probably include at least a little draft capital back.
The way the Nets have been trending, they will likely go young and build from the ground up. This might be a move to invest in Zions's age and try to rebuild him. New York was one of his top destinations before the draft, so he’d fit in, in Brooklyn.
This one might be the most interesting, considering the ease with which they could get this deal done and the low risk for both sides involved.
The Zion trade market is very fresh, and it’s hard to say who is interested in the big man. We’ll keep you updated with more information available in the coming months!