Zhou's interesting, it's hard to say he's "raw" in the sense that his skill level seem to be pretty high and he's been playing pro ball in a league with plenty of ex-nba guys.
( i've seen most of his full games in last couple years. my take is mixed, his highlights are REALLY high and there's some really low lights and a lot of stuff that's hard to sort out due to context. )
He's a fairly rare bird stylistically, the most approximation of his game is a ( obviously very poor man's ) Anthony Davis / Kristaps Porzingis type of big who's fairly comfortable doing wing stuff while being really tall. in the CBA in general he hasn't been asked to carry the offense hardly at all and on Team China usually he's 3rd option at best as well but there are a lot of flashes of stuff where you wonder if maybe that's a mistake. but it seems maybe he just doesn't have that sort of alpha mentality anyway. and that's not what we're looking at anyway. but I can say with a fair bit of confidence that if he fails skill level is definitely not going to be the main problem.
( My general beef with him is that he seems very ginger / conservative most of the time. ) but his highlights are impressive.
( mid range off the dribble pull up j ? ok.)
(going left and finishing left )
( if nothing else he's shown he's pretty darn good in transition . definitely not a plodder. this alone probably get him some points for MDA. )
(he's not much of a low post threat outside of put backs and lobs, but he does have some pretty serious moves he can pull out every once in a while. )
( Here's another major point to his skill level, he's definitely a ref baiter. got a good deal of tricks up his bag already. )
( Here's probably one of the more fascinating component of his game, his ability to attack close outs and at times look totally unguardable going downhill. )
( He does have a jump shot and have consistently hit his free throws in the 70% ish but I feel ppl are overstating his current ability there in general, if you watch the games generally he either is feeling it and shoots a lot or he takes a couple that doesn't go in and don't try again the rest of the game. so he's not a reliable shooter at this point, especially if a team is gonna ask him to do 5 3 pointers a game running off a screen that probably won't go down too well right now. but the fundamental feel / touch seem to be above average (though I don't feel like he has a lot of spin on his shot and his mechanics is not very consistent. sometimes it's good sometimes it's awkward. ) , probably not going to be Ryan Anderson, but I dunno... maybe Brook Lopez ish down the line? though with his ability to attack close outs he just need guys to come out and respect it a little . )
He doesn't have a ton of passing highlights but watching the games in general I think he's certainly not a negative there, he's clearly aware of plays and where guys are going and keep his head up and sees open man. (obviously helps that he literally sees over everyone. ) but doesn't really throw spectacular passes or anything . however his team in the CBA does run some back door plays with him holding the ball in the high post.
( like this . )
I think my general conclusion is that there's almost no way he fails in the NBA because of offense . he's way too skilled in way too many area and this is a team that really exploit all these advantages well . on the other hand he's also not going to be a guy that drops 20+ every game either. he's not very consistent with his shot and generally just isn't aggressive often enough . but that's not what the Rockets need obviously. they need a guy that can do something with the ball and keep it moving, and everything I've seen from Zhou suggest he's likely going to be that sort of player.
It's the defensive end of the ball that's most fascinating. if his offense is high floor ok ceiling then his defense in the NBA is super high ceiling and super low floor. there's definitely a world where he's unplayable on defense and then there's a world he's a game changing defensive player.
( who the heck blocks a step back that cleanly and go all the way? I know the guy isn't exactly a NBA player but boy. )
( this is an impressive sequence of rotation and then defending a switch and staying with a guard laterally. the guard #55 in this play is Dominique Jones who was a first round pick in 2010. he was like 26 so it's not a case of old ex-NBA guys. granted Jones was horrendous in the NBA. but Zhou was like 19 during that season. )
Almost all non-injury bust scenario I can think off is him though is still simply not being able to defend, there's several issue , one is the most commonly noted weight issue though that part is probably overstated. there just isn't that many guys who pound it inside old school style these days and even against those guys Zhou's length shouldn't be underestimated. in the CBA they don't really lack big centers (many ex-NBA types like Sam Dalembert. ) he does get moved around but often he's still blocking them anyway. because at 7'2 7'6 wing span just getting SOME separation is often not enough. and he stays remarkably balanced in almost all situations.
The other aspect that's probably far more of a concern right now in the current NBA is that he has a highly inconsistent close out. there are times he stays low and put up huge highlights. and then there are times where he looks like a statue and gets blown by by not exactly the greatest athletes in the world. my current conclusion is that he simply doesn't consistently stay low on close outs, and when your 7'2 even if your just up a little bit it's hard to recover and move laterally.
( he also gives up way too easily at times. a general issue for him is effort level / motor. the problem is the context that he clearly seem to be holding back big time after his first CBA season to not get hurt. and his team is awesome anyway so he have legitimate reasons to just reduce risks. the problem is that would definitely have to change in the NBA. and especially if your going to be Chris Paul's teammate and not get your throat slit. )
There's certainly a pretty significant chance he just can't adjust to the higher level of overall athletes, and certainly a lot of lower outcome possibilities like a Shawn Bradley that is slightly more competent offensively. ( But Bradley is underrated defensively especially in his later career. )
At the end of the day even pro scouts can't say for sure, but there's certainly a lot of be intrigued by with Zhou.