Remember last season when there were conversations about weight and body fat clauses included in Zion Williamson’s contract?
Reporting from Nola.com’s Christian Clark said the Pelicans required Williamson to hit certain benchmarks with his weight. If he couldn’t, he risked missing out on various incentives in the deal and could potentially lose money.
The Pelicans pushed back against it after Williamson’s reaction to this information hit the public sphere. It wasn’t a good look.
But, as it turns out, it was true. There is reportedly a weight and body fat clause in Williamson’s contract as well as certain health benchmarks that he needed to hit to fully guarantee his salary.
And, apparently, as things stand right now, according to reporting from The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov, the final three seasons of Williamson’s contract are no longer guaranteed because of it.
As things stand, the Pelicans could cut Williamson after next season with no repercussions.
Let’s talk about how we got here.
Wait, the Pelicans can cut Zion? How?
Not just yet, but as things stand, it could happen after next season, according to The Athletic.
There’s a clause in Williamson’s contract that required him to play at least 60 games last season. Since he only played in 29 games last season, the final three years of his contract shifted to non-guaranteed salary for the 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons of his contract.
OK, but the Pelicans wouldn't actually do that, right?
Almost certainly not. Folks around the league don’t think the Pelicans would dare do this. Here’s Vorkunov in The Athletic with more:
“That means the Pelicans have the contractual power to waive Williamson after the 2024-25 season with no financial ramifications — though rival team executives believe that would only happen in extreme circumstances. And if Williamson misses significant time this season, it could cut into his guaranteed salary for 2024-25.”
The team would have to be completely ready to walk away from their 24-year-old All-Star player at that point. Unless he’s not the same ultra-efficient scorer he is currently when the time comes, it’s not happening.
But the mere fact that the Pelicans could do this is shocking.
So will Williamson's salary remain non-guaranteed if the Pelicans don't cut him?
If the Pelicans choose not to cut him (which, again, they likely will not), then there’s a strong chance Williamson will earn some of those guarantees back.
For example, 20 percent of Williamson’s salary for the 2025-26 season will be guaranteed again if he hits certain weight goals for the team. Another 60 percent will become fully guaranteed if he plays in at least 61 games, too.
Plus there are certain dates that, if the Pelicans don’t waive him, Williamson’s salary becomes fully guaranteed anyway.
So Williamson is all good then, basically?
Not necessarily! There are still ways for Williamson to lose even more salary, per The Athletic. He has to hit certain weight goals and remain healthy.
“Beyond the shift for the final three years of the deal, Williamson is at risk of losing even more in guarantees if he doesn’t hit certain marks during regular checks of his weight and body fat. Under the contract, the sum of Williamson’s weight in pounds and his body fat percentage must be less than 295. He was listed as weighing 285 pounds last season, meaning his body fat could not be higher than 10 percent.”
We don’t know how much Williamson weighs this season, but his conditioning has already been a problem that has been brought up countless times by pundits across basketball. Shaq and Charles Barkley have both criticized him about his conditioning. Behind the scenes, the Pelicans are complaining about his diet again. These are the problems that created this mess in the first place.
We don’t know what’s going on here internally with Williamson and the Pelicans — for all we know, he could be on the right track.
But, man. Williamson’s got plenty of motivation to follow these guidelines that have been set. Let’s hope he does for the sake of his pockets.
