Pelicans Discuss Zion Williamson Trade with Teams; Could Mavs Make Worthy Offer?

Zion Williamson is supremely talented, but he's had trouble staying on the court throughout the first four years of his career. If the New Orleans Pelicans are open to trading him this summer, the Dallas Mavericks would have a hard time mustering up the assets to acquire the 2019 No. 1 overall pick.

Back in 2019, the Dallas Mavericks had the same NBA Draft Lottery odds as the New Orleans Pelicans and the Memphis Grizzlies, but they were the only team out of the three to end up without a draft pick. The Pelicans ended up with the No. 1 pick and selected Zion Williamson, and the Grizzlies got the No 2 pick and selected Ja Morant. The Mavs had to convey their pick to the Atlanta Hawks as part of the Luka Doncic draft-night trade from 2018 since it didn't land in the top five.

Fast forward four years later, and things haven't necessarily gone smoothly for the Grizzlies or the Pelicans. Morant, who was suspended for eight games this season for flashing a gun on his Instagram Live feed, committed the same act less than two months later, and is now suspended for the first 25 games of next season because of it. Williamson has produced spectacular numbers when he's been able to stay on the court ... but that's the big problem, as he's only played in 114 career games in four years – an average of 28.5 games per season.

Due to his durability and conditioning issues, the Pelicans could be getting ready to move on from Williamson ahead of this year's draft, as they have eyes for top prospect Scoot Henderson, who is widely expected to go to the Charlotte Hornets with the No. 2 pick.

"It's surprising to me how out there it is in the league that the Pelicans are discussing Zion business," said Brian Windhorst on his latest episode of the Hoop Collective podcast. "I want to be very careful about the word 'offer' because that word is a dangerous word. I'm not sure the Pelicans have 'offered' Zion to anybody, but every day that passes over the past five or six days, I hear different discussions the Pelicans have had that implies they are going to make Zion available."

If this is the case, would the Dallas Mavericks have enough trade assets to scrape together in order to have a chance at pulling off such a blockbuster trade? It seems highly unlikely, but then again, whoever is trading for Williamson at this point isn't doing so without risks. As great as he is when he does play, he doesn't help a team's championship hopes if he's unable to play full seasons.

Although the Mavs should likely prioritize depth over chasing a third star to pair alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, Williamson is the type of player that a front office could justify pushing all the chips in for ... again, if he's able to stay healthy. The best the Mavs could offer the Pelicans would probably look something like this:

Mavs receive: Zion Williamson

Pelicans receive: Tim Hardaway Jr., Maxi Kleber, Josh Green, Jaden Hardy, 2023 first-round pick (No. 10), 2027 frist-round pick

That trade call would likely be a short one between Mavs GM Nico Harrison and Pelicans GM David Griffin, and some might even argue that Dallas shouldn't do that deal even if New Orleans agreed to it, given the risks involved. But then again, this is the NBA. We've certainly seen crazier things happen. It's just a matter of how low Williamson's trade value has fallen, but it likely hasn't fallen enough just yet.

Follow Dalton Trigg on Twitter. SUBSCRIBE to Mavs Step Back on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Dallas Mavericks? Click Here. Follow DallasBasketball.com on Twitter and Facebook.