Griffin shouldn't be expressing hesitation publicly like that, but he's right to be reluctant. Because you're right: he could extend and demand a trade nearly instantly, lol.

And the Pelicans played pretty well with McCollum and Ingram as The Guys. If you think Zion won't be able to take the court regularly enough to maximize on his absolutely absurd talent, and you think the guys you have are enough to build around?

Then I'd see if there's a team willing to run a sign-and-trade-- where they give Zion the extension they have available as the drafting team, and see if there's a team with a star or some package of strong pieces worth that amount of salary that they can bring in to supplement McCollum and Ingram.

Obviously might backfire if Zion can stay on a court, because dude isn't even 22 yet and already has an ASG under his belt, so the upside if it works out is super apparent...

... but if the Pelicans have two stars now (they do), if they think they can start pushing for higher playoff seeding next season (possible, depending on offseason deals), and they think Zion isn't genuinely interested in staying (clearly), then deal Zion to a team that is willing to ship win-now pieces in exchange for the insanely-high-future-upside swing of the bat.