TITLE: Pelicans Executive Joe Dumars Says Team Has No Plans to Trade Zion Williamson
SLUG: pelicans-dumars-no-plans-to-trade-zion-williamson
CONTENT:
New Orleans Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars stated Tuesday that the organization does not intend to move star forward Zion Williamson during the upcoming offseason.
“We have no intentions of doing that,” Dumars told reporters at his end-of-season press conference when asked about the possibility of trading Williamson. “We are going into the offseason looking forward to Zion coming back next year and playing great again next year.”
Williamson, 25, appeared in 62 games during the 2025-26 campaign after hamstring and adductor strains limited him to just 30 contests the previous season. The former No. 1 overall pick averaged 21.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 29.7 minutes per game, marking only the third time in his seven NBA seasons that he played at least half of the Pelicans’ schedule.
The two-time All-Star has two years remaining on his five-year maximum-salary contract. His 2026-27 salary of $42.2 million is already at least 80 percent guaranteed because he surpassed 61 appearances this season; the figure becomes fully guaranteed if he meets certain weight clauses or remains on the roster past July 15. Williamson is set to earn $44.9 million in 2027-28 and will be extension-eligible this summer. If no new deal is reached, he could reach unrestricted free agency in 2028.
Trade speculation has followed Williamson for multiple seasons, but Dumars reiterated that New Orleans has consistently turned away inquiries. “Those phone calls come in and people ask about a player, and two hours later it comes out that you had a conversation about trading a player,” Dumars said. “But you left out the most important part. We said no.”
Williamson told reporters Monday that he hopes to remain with the Pelicans, and Dumars’ remarks the next day echoed the stance he took at the start of last offseason, when the forward ultimately opened the 2025-26 season in New Orleans.
Source: Hoops Rumors
