According to a joint report by NBA well-known journalists Andrew Lopez and Christian Clark, four teams are willing to trade zion this summer.
Zion's current situation is very similar to Ayton's, the Sun is not willing to give Ayton a five-year contract of 172 million in 21 years, so the Sun is also planting a mine for itself. Ayton could stay with the Suns this summer and choose to stay with the Suns for a year and become a full free agent in 2023, so the Suns will get nothing in the summer of '23.
The Pelicans formed the core combination of Ingram and McCollum after trading mcCollum, the interior valan expired this year and he performed well The Pelicans plan to keep him, and the 19/8 pick Rookie Hayes is also slowly cashing in on his potential to become the team's starting striker in the future.
The Pelicans now have chemistry to trade McCollum 15-12, so the Pelicans believe McCollum and Ingram are the core of the team, and Zion has only played 85 games for the team in three seasons, and Zion's current weight of 130 kilograms will also affect his speed, and the Pelicans are afraid that Zion's body will not be able to withstand his weight and lead to frequent injuries, so the Pelicans are not worth renewing Zion for 5 years and 190 million.
Not only does Zion want a top salary of 190 million for 5 years but he also wants to play for big city teams, and now the Bulls, Thunder, Pistons, and Grizzlies all want Zion and they'll actively offer the Pelicans.
The Pelicans want a healthy big forward and 2-3 first rounds through the trade, and there aren't many teams that can meet the Pelicans' conditions, and if the Thunder want Zion they can use more draft picks.
Now in addition to the Thunder and other 4 teams, the Rockets have also expressed interest in Zion, the Rockets hope to use this year's first-round pick and Wood to offer the Pelicans, the Pelicans will not be able to refuse, the Rockets' signing will be the first five can help the Pelicans to select interior players such as Bencaro or Homegren, and the Thunder and Pistons may not be able to put this year's first-round picks into the deal.
The rocket trade zion original intention is to find a good partner for Green, Green has slowly cashed in his talent and Zion can provide a lot of support to Green on the inside, Zion averaged 31.7 minutes per game in his career to cut 26 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, Zion can even serve as a center in a small lineup, which is why the Rockets like Zion. All of this is based on zion's health, and if Zion were like Oden, it would be a parallel importance.
Some draft experts have analyzed that this year is a small draft year, so the Rockets will not get too good rookies even if they get a draft, so the Rockets are willing to use the future bet to trade the top five draft picks this year.
The Rockets may not be afraid of Zion's injuries, embiid has only played 65 games in the first three seasons of his career but that doesn't stop Embiid from being one of the best centers in the league now, and the Rockets believe Zion's injury won't be a reason to hinder his growth.
The Rockets are willing to give Zion a 5-year, $190 million deal, but the Rockets will follow the same contract that the 76ers gave to Embiid, who now has a 5-year, $148 million contract that is subject to a lot of restrictions, with the contract stipulating that embiid won't get full pay if he makes fewer appearances, and the 76ers also have Embiid's player options.
The Rockets will quote Zion with this year's first round + Wood, trade Wood just to balance the salary, if Zion can be as healthy as Embiid he is the NBA's big killer, his and Green's combination will be wide open to help the Rockets win the championship.