Zion Williamson in the NBA?

[Wallace_Wallace]

The way he plays defense, I think he could be an attacking Draymond Green who could average multiple 20/10/5 seasons with shut down defense.

[Ball4life32]

He's gonna be better then John Collins on offense right?

I would imagine this, but better. John Collins is pretty amazing though as an off the ball offensive guy. Reminds me of Shawn Marion. Zion seems more Blake.

Sent from my SM-J727U using Tapatalk

Collins and Marion are nothing close to alike at all.

I could see the Zion-Blake similarities but Zion is way better defensively. Zion gets a ton of steals/blocks that Blake doesn’t. Zion gets so many points/dunks off steals. Zion also has a better motor. BG does have 3 inches on him but that doesn’t concern me.

[jonjames]

Wow, people need to pump the brakes. Him at age 18 is nothing compared to LBJ at age 18. Dunk good though and the hype train just goes off the rails. I'd clearly take him #1 and don't see a way he's not at least a solid NBA player but relax people and try to remember that he's going to have to play on the wing in the NBA due to his height and remember he just won't be able to bully everyone in the NBA as tons of guys can physically bang with him. We'll likely never see a phenom at LBJs level in our lifetimes.

Watched lebron in highschool Zion is every bit as good as lebron if not better at the same age
.that being said it doesnt mean he will stay the course trajectory throughout his career but he is a same level prospect.. Randle bullies ppl in the nba..Zion can match his physicality plus way more atgletic..he will dominate no question.

[Ryo Coola]

He's gonna be better then John Collins on offense right?

I would imagine this, but better. John Collins is pretty amazing though as an off the ball offensive guy. Reminds me of Shawn Marion. Zion seems more Blake.

Sent from my SM-J727U using Tapatalk

Collins and Marion are nothing close to alike at all.

I could see the Zion-Blake similarities but Zion is way better defensively. Zion gets a ton of steals/blocks that Blake doesn’t. Zion gets so many points/dunks off steals. Zion also has a better motor. BG does have 3 inches on him but that doesn’t concern me.

What are you talking about?! Offensively they get buckets the same way. Pick and rolls, cuts, lobs, putbacks of pogo stick rebounds, quick hits in the post, a little bit of spot up shooting, and deadly on the fast break. Shawn Marion is literally my favorite player. I am not making this up. Defensively there is no comparison.

Sent from my SM-J727U using Tapatalk

[VanWest82]

Guys like Kemp and Blake were fantastic leapers but they never covered ground the way Zion does. He has that Russell Westbrook or pre-injury Derrick Rose twitch to his movements, except he's 70 lbs heavier.

Everyone is so focused on his dunking ability and second efforts around the rim. Watch how he blows up PnRs on the perimeter, and then recovers to protect the rim all in a couple of steps. The only other guy in the history of the league I can remember moving like that at that size is prime Lebron. LBJ always picked his spots though. Zion plays as if Lebron focused all of his energy on defense and played as hard as he could every possession. Some of you guys are focusing on the wrong stuff wrt height, wingspan, etc. It's not going to matter as much with this kid.

[316Hornets]

What type of career does Zion really have in the NBA? Almost no guy has been able to stand up to it long term except a very few. The last guy the size of Zion to do it was Karl Malone. So, from a long term perspective, what are the odds of a Karl Malone longevity? Expectations should be a solid starter in the league with occasional AllStar appearance depending on health. It's hard to say much more with a guy that is only 18 and has so little experience against real monsters.

[rcc8884]

Would anyone here sign Williamson to a supermax right now? You bypass the draft and just pay him a 10 year vet supermax.

Takers?

Absolutly

[xBulletproof]

Man, better than Lebron and some of the other stuff? Whew. Some people are going overboard.

[Jcool0]

Wow, people need to pump the brakes. Him at age 18 is nothing compared to LBJ at age 18. Dunk good though and the hype train just goes off the rails. I'd clearly take him #1 and don't see a way he's not at least a solid NBA player but relax people and try to remember that he's going to have to play on the wing in the NBA due to his height and remember he just won't be able to bully everyone in the NBA as tons of guys can physically bang with him. We'll likely never see a phenom at LBJs level in our lifetimes.

Watched lebron in highschool Zion is every bit as good as lebron if not better at the same age
.that being said it doesnt mean he will stay the course trajectory throughout his career but he is a same level prospect.. Randle bullies ppl in the nba..Zion can match his physicality plus way more atgletic..he will dominate no question.

I saw LeBron in high school.... Zion is no LeBron.

[LakerLegend]

Those guys werent 280 pound tanks at 18. Say what you will, but there has never been a player with Zion's physical profile.

Dude is averaging 22, 9, 2, 2.3, 1.8 on 70% shooting as a freshman.

Mcdyess averaged 14, 10, 0.5, 0.8, 2 on 50% shooting as a sophomore.

Kemp came straight out of HS so we can't compare.

Players nowadays have earlier access and emphasis to serious lifting/nutrition programs, but they don't see the same physical growth in the early 20's as players did back then because of it.

Zion isn't going to add the same amount physical development as guys like Kemp/McDyess did once they entered the NBA.

Well again, I can't compare to Kemp since he skipped college.

But Zion and Antonio were both playing against competition with equal lifting and nutrition programs. However, Zion is dominating at a significantly higher level than Antonio did in even his second year.

There was never a time where Antonio or Kemp reached being an athletic 280 pounds at any point in their primes.

Zion is a absolute physical freak compared to every other guy on the court, and those guys all have access to the same training and nutrition.

Keep in mind the college ranks were much more talented back then because there wasn’t one and done emphasis.

[Ball4life32]

I would imagine this, but better. John Collins is pretty amazing though as an off the ball offensive guy. Reminds me of Shawn Marion. Zion seems more Blake.

Sent from my SM-J727U using Tapatalk

Collins and Marion are nothing close to alike at all.

I could see the Zion-Blake similarities but Zion is way better defensively. Zion gets a ton of steals/blocks that Blake doesn’t. Zion gets so many points/dunks off steals. Zion also has a better motor. BG does have 3 inches on him but that doesn’t concern me.

What are you talking about?! Offensively they get buckets the same way. Pick and rolls, cuts, lobs, putbacks of pogo stick rebounds, quick hits in the post, a little bit of spot up shooting, and deadly on the fast break. Shawn Marion is literally my favorite player. I am not making this up. Defensively there is no comparison.

Sent from my SM-J727U using Tapatalk

They may score in similar ways in some areas of their game but they’re still nothing alike. I always viewed Marion as more of a SF/PF and Collins is a PF/C. Collins is closer to an Amare type than Marion by comparison.

[WestbrookGOATed]

He's gonna be a bust. This is a horrible draft class. Zion is obese.

[Ryo Coola]

Collins and Marion are nothing close to alike at all.

I could see the Zion-Blake similarities but Zion is way better defensively. Zion gets a ton of steals/blocks that Blake doesn’t. Zion gets so many points/dunks off steals. Zion also has a better motor. BG does have 3 inches on him but that doesn’t concern me.

What are you talking about?! Offensively they get buckets the same way. Pick and rolls, cuts, lobs, putbacks of pogo stick rebounds, quick hits in the post, a little bit of spot up shooting, and deadly on the fast break. Shawn Marion is literally my favorite player. I am not making this up. Defensively there is no comparison.

Sent from my SM-J727U using Tapatalk

They may score in similar ways in some areas of their game but they’re still nothing alike. I always viewed Marion as more of a SF/PF and Collins is a PF/C. Collins is way closer to an Amare type than Marion by comparison.

That is fair. Amare just didn't have the hustle in my mind like the two of them. They both can still thrive without a single play being call for them. I watch him and see similar playstyles positions aside. Amare had plays called for him. Amare could also iso face up and take people off dribble in the post area regularly really never had the three game either. A mare's pick and roll game is definitely like Collins.

Sent from my SM-J727U using Tapatalk

[kuclas]

Heard of radio he’s a bigger more explosive Charles barkley. Could be. I used to be skeptical of his game. Thinking he could be Corliss Williamson. Or Larry Johnson.

But a bigger more explosive Charles Barkley would be u stoppable. And Barkley at times was unstoppable.

[E-Balla]

He is so far outside the norm that its nearly impossible to project him. The one thing that really sticks out is that he is off ball dominant. That is to say, he isn't pounding the ball and having the entire team run through him. There is a long highlight reel of him online and something like 90% of the plays are ones where he has the ball for less than 2 seconds.

I think that if a team tries to run their entire offense through him, they will be disappointed. If someone else runs the offense and Zion just is free to run around and get quick post ups, lobs, catch and drive, etc. stuff I think he will put up big numbers on huge efficiency and have epic on off based numbers but at the same time, he will have a vocal group of detractors who call him out for not being a traditional isolation scorer.

I strongly disagree with those who don't think he has a good basketball IQ. For his age, its off the charts and yeah, his motor is crazy too. I have been watching basketball for a very long time and never seen anything like him.

No the reason he's off ball is that if RJ Barrett is on the floor without the ball you're basically playing 4 on 5. He's terrible without the rock. Coach K isn't Cal he's focused on winning before development. Zion off ball is what they need to do to have the best chance at winning games since the roster is devoid of shooters.

24.3% of Zion's possessions come in iso, the post, or as a PNR ball handler. Combined he's in the 99th percentile (yes he's the most efficient high volume ball handler in the NCAA). Individually he's in the 96th percentile in isolation, 95th percentile in the post, and the 98th percentile handling the ball in the PNR. Watch games not highlight reels. His handles are sharp, his moves down low are great (best dropstep since Dwight Howard), and he can pass his ass off:

Watch on YouTube

[abark]

Players nowadays have earlier access and emphasis to serious lifting/nutrition programs, but they don't see the same physical growth in the early 20's as players did back then because of it.

Zion isn't going to add the same amount physical development as guys like Kemp/McDyess did once they entered the NBA.

Well again, I can't compare to Kemp since he skipped college.

But Zion and Antonio were both playing against competition with equal lifting and nutrition programs. However, Zion is dominating at a significantly higher level than Antonio did in even his second year.

There was never a time where Antonio or Kemp reached being an athletic 280 pounds at any point in their primes.

Zion is a absolute physical freak compared to every other guy on the court, and those guys all have access to the same training and nutrition.

Keep in mind the college ranks were much more talented back then because there wasn’t one and done emphasis.

Good point, but I still stand by the idea that these two traditional PF's being 6'10" Zions is a terrible comparison.

They lacked his ball handing, perimeter skills, superhuman strength, and overall versatility. They were typical power forwards with elite verticals. Do you really just see a shorter version of that when you watch Zion?

[PlatinumState]

Pretty easy bet to make that he won't be as good or better than Lebron or close. Ridiculously high bar to set.

I wouldnt say thats a easy bet at all. I bet you most people would've said if asked back in 2003 its a easy bet that Lebron wont be as good or better than Vince Carter.

[Hindenburg]

If this was the 90s or early 2000s, then I could believe into "LeBron level" player upside. Today's game is all about the 3 pointer and is much more skill based. It's not that easy anymore to bully players around off of athleticism or size in your rookie year.

I think he's going to underwhelm in his rookie year. The expectations and hype are just absurd atm.

[NO-KG-AI]

Pretty easy bet to make that he won't be as good or better than Lebron or close. Ridiculously high bar to set.

I wouldnt say thats a easy bet at all. I bet you most people would've said if asked back in 2003 its a easy bet that Lebron wont be as good or better than Vince Carter.

No, they wouldn't have. Everyone was sour on Vince Carter already by then, and LeBron was already being touted as a Jordan/Magic hybrid.

[alebaba]

I think he's going to underwhelm in his rookie year. The expectations and hype are just absurd atm.

Ppl have been saying this since his HS days. Hes going to continue to show all the doubters wrong again.