Julia StumbaughNovember 23, 2024
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson will no longer be represented by the Creative Arts Agency, The Athletic's Joe Vardon and Sam Amick reported.
Williamson's “agreement circumstance” is “in doubt” due to his injury history, according to Vardon and Amick.
He had actually been represented by CAA given that 2019.
The news of the split comes the exact same day ESPN's Shams Charania reported that Williamson is “not close” to returning from a continuous hamstring concern.
Williamson initially signed with CAA Sports as a 19-year-old NCAA star.
Because going into the NBA as the leading choice of the 2019 draft, injuries have actually restricted Williamson to less than 50 percent of the Pelicans' video games. He has actually played in 6 of New Orleans' 16 video games up until now this season.
Williamson is playing in the 2nd season of the five-year, $197 million agreement he tattooed with the Pelicans in 2022.
Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic has actually formerly reported that the Pelicans have actually an out constructed in to Williamson's agreement after this season.
Since Williamson disappointed a games-played provision in his agreement throughout the 2022-23 project, the last 3 years of his offer are not ensured, per Vorkunov. That opens the possibility for the Pelicans to waive Williamson after the 2024-25 project without handling dead cash.
Williamson, who has actually not played because suffering a left hamstring stress throughout a Nov. 6 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, has actually “gone through several treatments” on his hamstring, according to Charania.
Charania reported that Williamson might be sidelined previous mid-December “as he fixes up a body part that has actually sustained several pressures over the previous couple of years.”
Williamson missed out on the last 53 video games of the 2022-23 project due to an ideal hamstring injury.
He went back to play a career-high 70 video games in 2023-24, however the Pelicans lost Williamson for the postseason after he suffered a left hamstring pressure throughout a play-in competition loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Pelicans advanced to the postseason without Williamson, however were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the preliminary.
New Orleans has actually likewise had a hard time to cover for a congested hurt list that has actually consisted of not simply Williamson however likewise CJ McCollum, Jose Alvarado, Dejounte Murray and Herbert Jones.
The Pelicans hold the second-worst record in the Western Conference at 4-12 heading into Friday night's NBA Cup action versus the Golden State Warriors.
