The final three seasons of the contract of Zion Williamson with the New Orleans Pelicans are no longer guaranteed. By missing more than 22 games last season, Williamson triggered a clause in his contract that turns his salary for 25-26, 26-27 and 27-28 from guaranteed to non-guaranteed.

The Pelicans could theoretically waive Williamson after the 24-25 season without any financial ramifications. The odds of that are fairly slim barring an extreme set of circumstances. 

The contract also has ways for Williamson to earn back the guarantees by playing in enough games and hitting specific weigh-in checkpoints.

Williamson signed a five-year, $197 million extension with the Pelicans in 2022.

The complex deal, key details of which were confirmed by six league sources on condition of anonymity, contained unusual measures taken by the Pelicans to directly connect guaranteed salary with games played.

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.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have received trade interest on Jarrett Allen from multiple playoff contenders including the New Orleans Pelicans, sources tell Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

Allen is in Year 2 of a five-year, $100 million contract.

The Cavaliers remain committed to their core of Allen, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Darius Garland, sources add.

Beyond the murky future of Mitchell with the Cavaliers, there are also doubts on whether Mobley and Allen can co-exist in the frontcourt long-term.

New Orleans Pelicans forward Matt Ryan will miss six-to-eight weeks after having right elbow surgery. Ryan had an arthroscopic surgery done to remove loose bodies in his right elbow.

Despite being signed to a two-way contract, Ryan had emerged as a key rotation player for New Orleans earlier this season. When the Pelicans were missing several players due to injuries, Ryan played 22.9 minutes per game over 13 games, including one start. Ryan was averaging 9.3 points and was hitting 47% of his 5.2 three-point attempts per game when he was injured in late-November.

The conditioning of Zion Williamson came under scrutiny on Thursday as the New Orleans Pelicans were blown out in the In-Season Tournament semifinals by the Los Angeles Lakers. The speed and energy of LeBron James at the age of 38 contrasted with Williamson in a dramatic way.

The Pelicans have repeated stressed to Williamson that his diet and conditioning needs to improve. Multiple sources from the Pelicans told Christian Clark of The Times-Picayune that Williamson "doesn't listen."

Williamson has a career low PER of 21.8 this season though he has so far remained healthy and available to play. Williamson has been an All-Star in 2021 and 2023.