A Zion Williamson deal sounds tempting on paper for Charlotte, but the price tag gets steep fast.
The proposed trade from HoopsHabit would send Grant Williams, Royce O'Neale, Grayson Allen, and Charlotte’s 2027 first from Miami to New Orleans in exchange for Williamson. That package would strip the Hornets of three useful veterans and a future first-rounder, which is why the proposal earns Charlotte a D-plus grade.
The salary side at least lines up cleanly. Allen, Williams, and O'Neale are owed a combined $43,265,750 this season, while Williamson is set to make $42,166,510.
That’s not just dead-money matching, either. Allen has reached double figures in scoring for six straight seasons.
O'Neale has built a reputation as a wing and forward defender. Williams can give Charlotte minutes in the frontcourt and space the floor.
Williamson, meanwhile, is coming off a season that reminded everyone why his name keeps surfacing in trade chatter. He averaged 21.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3.2 assists while shooting 60.0% from the field. He played 62 games and started 55, with only one season in his career in which he appeared in more games.
He turned 26 in July, is a two-time NBA All-Star, and has career averages of 23.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 4.1 assists. His contract also still has real money attached to it: another $44,886,930 is due in 2027-28 before he can reach unrestricted free agency in 2028. He is eligible for an extension now.
There’s also a timing issue. The proposal can’t be finished before Sept. 13 because O'Neale and Allen can’t be aggregated with other players until then after coming to Charlotte in the June 28 Miles Bridges trade, according to Spotrac.
Williamson’s contract changed after he got to 61 games last season, too. ESPN’s Bobby Marks reported that his guaranteed 2026-27 salary rose from $25.3 million to $33.7 million.
The first-round pick in the deal would be the one Charlotte got from Miami in the January 2024 Terry Rozier trade. It is lottery-protected in 2027 and becomes an unprotected 2028 first if it doesn’t convey.
Because Miami made the play-in last season, another year in that same neighborhood could push the pick outside the lottery.
New Orleans, for its part, has already been clear about how it views Williamson trade speculation. Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said in April that calls about Williamson have a habit of becoming public without the Pelicans’ side ever being included. He added that a conversation can leak two hours later after New Orleans has already passed.
"Listen, we have no intentions of doing that," Dumars told reporters. "We're going into the offseason looking forward to Zion coming back next year and playing great again next year."
Dumars gave the same answer the offseason before, and Williamson stayed in New Orleans.
Charlotte also has to look at its own roster picture before giving up that kind of package. The Hornets already added Naz Reid in the LaMelo Ball trade, and he is due $23,275,862 this season. Moussa Diabaté, Ryan Kalkbrenner, and rookie Hannes Steinbach are in the frontcourt mix as well.
Allen and O'Neale fit into a perimeter group that also includes Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Dorian Finney-Smith, Sion James, and Liam McNeeley.
Charlotte is about $20 million below the luxury tax line after finishing 44-38 last season. The Hornets ended ninth in the Eastern Conference and missed the playoffs by one game after winning 19 games the year before.
Williamson would be the best player in this trade. Even so, sending out three rotation players and a first-round pick feels like too much for Charlotte to swallow.
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