Pelicans: David Griffin Says Zion Williamson Is an 'Oddity' in Comments on Star's Rumored Trade

(Photo : Sean Gardner/Getty Images) NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - David Griffin, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations for the New Orleans Pelicans, speaks to the media during Media Day at Smoothie King Center on September 27, 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.

Zion Williamson has never had a silent full NBA season, and lately, noises are linking him to a departure from the New Orleans Pelicans.

For executive vice president David Griffin, those noises mean nothing because from where they are, Williamson has no reason to ask for a trade, and the organization feels the same way.

He believes their 2019 No. 1 overall draft pick is a good click generator, which is why the media is all over him.

"Generating clicks matters," Griffin said.

"And so, unfortunately for Zion, he's just, he's an oddity and somebody that people pay a great deal of attention to and manufacture a lot of stories around."

Griffin gets why Zion is linked to so many teams. He denied that Zion is being shopped for a trade and that whatever publications say about him differs from what is happening inside the organization.

"We never had a single conversation that Zion was part of. I think people perceive that we would be willing to move off of Zion because of all the injuries, because there's always so much noise around Zion. And fortunately for us, the noise never actually matches what we're really experiencing."

Zion's injury recovery

There is no timetable yet for Williamson's return to the court after being shut down completely in January this year due to his recurring hamstring injury.

In April, he expressed frustration over being unable to play and that the bigger battle is mental.

Williamson's injury derailed Pelicans' 2023 campaign as they slid from being the number one team in the Western Conference standings to just gaining a play-in spot.