The recent decision to part ways with Creative Arts Agency (CAA) may be linked to an unusual clause in the contract of a prominent NBA player. This player, who has been a star since joining the league, recently ended their relationship with CAA, and the reasons remain unclear, especially so early in the 2024-25 NBA season. Following this change, they will need to wait 15 days before selecting a new representation.
Adding to the narrative, the last three years of their substantial contract extension, signed in July 2022 and effective from the 2023-24 season, are not guaranteed. The player’s limited appearances during the 2022-23 season triggered a provision allowing the team to release them without financial consequences following the 2024-25 season.
The contract also includes specific conditions designed to protect the team in the event of continued absences. For instance, a portion of the player’s salary for next year becomes guaranteed if they maintain a weight below a certain threshold throughout the season. Furthermore, additional percentages of the contract will be guaranteed based on the number of games played in the coming season. The final two years of the contract can become fully guaranteed if certain performance milestones are met. There is also a clause ensuring full protection of the contract for the 2025-26 season unless the player is waived by a specific date.
Although the Pelicans have the option to waive him after this season due to his ongoing injury issues, they have little reason to do so. When fit, he is one of the most dynamic and gifted young players in the NBA, offering New Orleans a glimpse of their potential.
Unfortunately, he has struggled with health, having played more than 60 games in a season only twice throughout his career. During his first All-Star season in 2020-21, he managed to play 61 games, averaging 27.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists with an impressive shooting percentage of 61.1. However, he missed the entire following season due to injuries.
In the 2023-24 season, he achieved a career-high by playing in 70 games, putting up 22.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.0 assists while shooting 57.0 percent from the field, helping the team reach the play-in tournament against the Los Angeles Lakers. Unfortunately, his appearance was cut short when he had to leave the game with an injury in the fourth quarter.
This season, he has appeared in only six games as the New Orleans team struggles with a 4-13 record. It seems the star player will continue to be sidelined for the foreseeable future while he recovers from a hamstring strain.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the former No. 1 overall draft pick from 2019 is not nearing a return, despite undergoing “multiple treatments” for his left hamstring. The Pelicans are preparing for him to be out for at least four to six weeks, which would keep him out until mid-December, though his absence could last even longer as he rehabilitates an injury-prone area that has suffered multiple strains in recent years.
In his five years in the NBA, he has played in 190 games but has missed a total of 401 games due to injuries.
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