New Orleans Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said recently that there is no truth to the Zion Williamson trade rumors.

Joe Dumars officially took office on April 21 local time. His predecessor David Griffin was fired after the Pelicans missed the playoffs for the fourth time in six seasons. Independent reporter Shamit Dua reported at the time that Dumars' first task after taking office was to evaluate potential trades for Zion Williamson, and that he had been personally instructed by Pelicans owner Gale Benson.

Zion Williamson, 24, plays mainly as a power forward and was selected by the New Orleans Pelicans with the No. 1 pick in 2019. In the past six years, he has missed 55% of the Pelicans' regular season due to injuries and has yet to play in his first playoff game.

In the 2024/25 season, Zion played only 30 regular season games, averaging 24.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.23 blocks in 28.5 minutes per game, with a shooting percentage of 56.7%. In the absence of Zion and several main players, the Pelicans eventually ranked second from the bottom in the Western Conference with a record of 21 wins and 61 losses.

However, Dumars denied Shamet Dua's report. In an interview, he made it clear that owner Gale Benson did not issue any order to trade Zion: "There is no order, absolutely not. I saw a report last week that I was on duty with the task of 'trading Zion', but no one called me to tell me. No, really not. Absolutely not."

Dumars went on to add that Gail Benson's only wish is for the Pelicans to win the NBA championship: "When I talked to Mrs. Benson, she only said to me: 'Joe, I really want to know what it feels like to win an NBA championship.' That's all. This is probably the closest sentence to an 'order.'" Dumars also said that he will keep in touch with management, coaches and players, and will move forward with various tasks after clarifying the current situation: "I will certainly work towards this goal, but first I have to get familiar with the team... I am gradually carrying out this work and talking to everyone. But there is no mission. Zero order."