Joe Dumars sends clear message on Zion Williamson's future with Pelicans
Joe Dumars sends clear message on Zion Williamson's future with Pelicans originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
There has been ample speculation that the New Orleans Pelicans could try to trade star forward Zion Williamson over the offseason.
But Pelicans general manager Joe Dumars did his best to squash such speculation.
Joe Dumars says Pelicans don't plan to trade Zion Williamson
During his end-of-season press conference, Dumars sent a clear message regarding the organization's stance on a potential Williamson trade.
“We have no intentions of doing that (trading Zion),” Dumars said. “We are going into the offseason looking forward to Zion coming back next year and playing great again next year.”
This statement from Dumars will be music to Williamson's ears, as the Dule product recently made it clear that he hopes to continue his career in New Orleans.
“New Orleans is home for me," Williamson said in his own press conference earlier this week. "I don’t say that because I’m sitting in front of these cameras or I’m talking to y’all.
"... I do want to be here long term,” Williamson addd. “As far as extension talks, that’s not anything that can really be brought up at this moment. I think that’s more of a business side of it. If the team wants me here, then yeah, this is where I want to be. This is home.”
Of course, just because Dumars said publicly that the Pelicans don't plan to trade Williamson doesn't mean that they wouldn't make a move if the right offer came along.
So, it's still possible that Williamson has already played his last game in a Pelicans uniform. But for now at least, it sounds like both sounds would like to move forward together, so perhaps that's what will happen.
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