Gilbert Arenas gives his opinion on Zion Williamson

[E-Balla]

I just can't get behind any take on Zion that starts with "he's undersized." Especially in the current NBA. And especially if you've ever watched Zion play.

He has same height as Hardaway jr , Booker or Derozan

Guys like Justise Winslow, Draymond, PJ Tucker and more are all the same size if not shorter than Zion and they have handled playing the 4 with no problems. None of them are nearly as strong or explosive as Zion.

All have way longer wingspans than Zion. Zion is undersized for a 3, about average size for a 2.

[Duke4life831]

He has same height as Hardaway jr , Booker or Derozan

Guys like Justise Winslow, Draymond, PJ Tucker and more are all the same size if not shorter than Zion and they have handled playing the 4 with no problems. None of them are nearly as strong or explosive as Zion.

All have way longer wingspans than Zion. Zion is undersized for a 3, about average size for a 2.

Winslow has a shorter wingspan. The inch Tucker has on him, Im more than sure Zions strength and explosiveness makes up for that. The vast majority of 4s in today's NBA are perimeter players. The majority of them are not down low banging.

[Illmatic12]

Honestly I think Gilbert has just been watching the highlights and not the games. He doesn't know how to post? The dude was doing things like this all year

Read on Twitter

If that is not showing great footwork and a great understanding on how to post at the age of 18, I don't know what is. He is also trying to make it sound like Zion being able to impact the game even off the ball is a bad thing.

Arenas comments were from early in the season I am not sure why this is just surfacing now. But since then, I agree Zion has shown more skill level than many expected throughout the course of the year

But regardless, even in that clip the guy guarding him was 6'6 220 lbs. You can't tell me you didn't notice how many unsuccessful post ups Zion had against MSUs bigger/longer defenders

I can't think of many times Zion rooted out his post defender very well but Duke's perimeter players were incapable of throwing a good entry pass. Zion also faced countless triple teams as well, something I don't think he will ever see in the NBA.

Im not saying Zion was Jahlil Okafor at Duke or Duncan in the pros and was this super elite post player. But Zion's ability to post up, doesn't come anywhere close to a weakness for him, in my opinion.

I personally think Zion has 2 major question marks, his conditioning and his handle. Both I think are below where they need to be at this stage of his career.

If he gets his handles up, he can initiate from the perimeter and it gives him another source of offense. So agreed, his ballhandling development will be the main determinant of his NBA ceiling (even moreso than his outside shooting)

[Duke4life831]

Arenas comments were from early in the season I am not sure why this is just surfacing now. But since then, I agree Zion has shown more skill level than many expected throughout the course of the year

But regardless, even in that clip the guy guarding him was 6'6 220 lbs. You can't tell me you didn't notice how many unsuccessful post ups Zion had against MSUs bigger/longer defenders

I can't think of many times Zion rooted out his post defender very well but Duke's perimeter players were incapable of throwing a good entry pass. Zion also faced countless triple teams as well, something I don't think he will ever see in the NBA.

Im not saying Zion was Jahlil Okafor at Duke or Duncan in the pros and was this super elite post player. But Zion's ability to post up, doesn't come anywhere close to a weakness for him, in my opinion.

I personally think Zion has 2 major question marks, his conditioning and his handle. Both I think are below where they need to be at this stage of his career.

If he gets his handles up, he can initiate from the perimeter and it gives him another source of offense. So agreed, his ballhandling development will be the main determinant of his NBA ceiling (even moreso than his outside shooting)

Agreed 100%

[kobe_vs_jordan]

He's in the 99th percentile for Post scoring on high usage. The **** is he talking about

I don’t think you understood his point. Sure he can post up effectively against far inferior athletes. He doesn’t have to use much post skill or work hard to establish position or score. The question is does he have the post skill to score on NBA size and athleticism

NBA size and athleticism? Zion wouldn't be the most athletic guy in the NBA? He's the second heaviest .

[JonFromVA]

I just can't get behind any take on Zion that starts with "he's undersized." Especially in the current NBA. And especially if you've ever watched Zion play.

IKR, plus with where the NBA is going with no positions, you'd think they would put Zion because he's 6'7" he's mandated to put up a ton of 3's, and that' s not how he's going to dominate on the next level.

In Gilbert's day we would have said Zion is a "tweener." In today's league we call it "versatile." And the whole thing misses the point that Zion is an actual really good basketball player and not just a random pile of physical measurables.

Nah, "tweener" has (had) a derogatory connotation for players who weren't good enough at either of two positions.

Zion is not very tall, but it's hard to see him as "undersized" when he's blocking jumpers from 5 feet away, or grabbing rebounds over the head of the guy boxing him out.

[DingleJerry]

Guys like Justise Winslow, Draymond, PJ Tucker and more are all the same size if not shorter than Zion and they have handled playing the 4 with no problems. None of them are nearly as strong or explosive as Zion.

All have way longer wingspans than Zion. Zion is undersized for a 3, about average size for a 2.

Winslow has a shorter wingspan. The inch Tucker has on him, Im more than sure Zions strength and explosiveness makes up for that. The vast majority of 4s in today's NBA are perimeter players. The majority of them are not down low banging.[/quote]

Exactly, that's why he has to improve on the perimeter/wings skills like shooting and ball handling. He's obviously going to slash/drive a lot but the key to him going from good player to top 5 in the league or up to the current hype level will be how much he improves those perimeter skills.

[hoopsfan2424]

sorry but gilbert's an idiot who loves to hear himself talk. he could have made that very obvious point in like three sentences. here: "zion is a bit of a tweener, he lacks traditional wing skills and is short for a power forward. he has excelled thanks to an athleticism advantage that he won't have at the next level."

i agree with the poster who likened zion to millsap. he's going to be a face-up monster. there are very few power forwards right now in the NBA who will be able to slow him in an isolation situation. he's a lot like blake griffin in terms of his strength and quickness, but he might be even stronger and quicker. a lot of people say "oh zion's just another blake." ummm blake griffin is/was a monster, he put up 23 and 12 in his rookie year. if a guy looks like a lock to have a blake griffin-type impact, that's a great choice at #1. don't forget dennis rodman led the league in rebounds for years at 6'7". you don't need rim protection from your 4 necessarily.

[Q C]

Gilbert was 100% right about Lonzo

[Duke4life831]

All have way longer wingspans than Zion. Zion is undersized for a 3, about average size for a 2.

Winslow has a shorter wingspan. The inch Tucker has on him, Im more than sure Zions strength and explosiveness makes up for that. The vast majority of 4s in today's NBA are perimeter players. The majority of them are not down low banging.[/quote]

Exactly, that's why he has to improve on the perimeter/wings skills like shooting and ball handling. He's obviously going to slash/drive a lot but the key to him going from good player to top 5 in the league or up to the current hype level will be how much he improves those perimeter skills.

He needs the 3pt shot for teams not to play off of him when he doesn't have the ball and to close out on him. I think his shooting will be fine. It will be up and down the first couple years, but I have very little doubt he will be a capable shooter in his prime

He needs a solid low post game to take advantage of his strength when smaller players get switched on him. I have 0 doubt he will have this ability, this will probably be his main offense his first year inside the half court.

He needs the handle to be a threat from the perimeter and to be able to take advantage of his quickness with bigger defenders on him. This to me is his biggest question mark. I think his handle is the thing that is furthest behind the curve for him at this stage of his career. It is also something I don't know how easy it is to improve over a career as well. I think the handle is the biggest variable on if he becomes a super stud garbage man, or a true franchise changing player.

[Guest202]

What in the **** is Gil talking about

Corny contrarian garbage to get attention.

[nikster]

He's in the 99th percentile for Post scoring on high usage. The **** is he talking about

I don’t think you understood his point. Sure he can post up effectively against far inferior athletes. He doesn’t have to use much post skill or work hard to establish position or score. The question is does he have the post skill to score on NBA size and athleticism

NBA size and athleticism? Zion wouldn't be the most athletic guy in the NBA? He's the second heaviest .

Sure he’d obviously be up there with the most athletic NBA players but the gap wouldn’t be as large as it is against his current competition. Plus In the post he will be going up against players taller than him

[E-Balla]

Guys like Justise Winslow, Draymond, PJ Tucker and more are all the same size if not shorter than Zion and they have handled playing the 4 with no problems. None of them are nearly as strong or explosive as Zion.

All have way longer wingspans than Zion. Zion is undersized for a 3, about average size for a 2.

Winslow has a shorter wingspan. The inch Tucker has on him, Im more than sure Zions strength and explosiveness makes up for that. The vast majority of 4s in today's NBA are perimeter players. The majority of them are not down low banging.

Winslow is small like Zion my bad. Tucker isn't the though. No way Zion has a 6-11 wingspan or a standing reach anywhere near Tucker's. People forget wide built people like Zion have large wingspans but low standing reaches. If he hits a 8-7 standing reach I'd astonished. Meanwhile Dray and PJ have standing reaches well above the average SF (and in Dray's case above the average PF).

Zion's saving grace is that he can play extremely well on the perimeter offensively and guard the perimeter defensively. There's no need to act like he wouldn't immediately be the smallest (height/standing reach wise) PF in the league and possibly league history (relative to league average).

[hoopsfan2424]

Gilbert was 100% right about Lonzo

not sure what he said about lonzo but it's way too early to draw conclusions. he's 21 years old, is dominant defensively, and has the physical tools and IQ to become one of the league's top guards.

[nikster]

He's in the 99th percentile for Post scoring on high usage. The **** is he talking about

I don’t think you understood his point. Sure he can post up effectively against far inferior athletes. He doesn’t have to use much post skill or work hard to establish position or score. The question is does he have the post skill to score on NBA size and athleticism

he has post skills. his drop step, spin move is gonna be pretty much unstoppable against mismatches which is how he should primarily be used in the post. You don't want him backing down bigs when he can just blow by them from the perimeter. but he has counters if defenders take his go-to away from him, and obviously great footwork and touch.

Was just describing Arenas point. And he has some post skills but he hasn’t had to rely on them as much against his current competition.

[Showdown]

I just can't get behind any take on Zion that starts with "he's undersized." Especially in the current NBA. And especially if you've ever watched Zion play.

He has same height as Hardaway jr , Booker or Derozan

Guys like Justise Winslow, Draymond, PJ Tucker and more are all the same size if not shorter than Zion and they have handled playing the 4 with no problems. None of them are nearly as strong or explosive as Zion.

Utah Jazz 2nd most used lineup is Gobert/Crowder/Ingles/Mitchell/Rubio. Where is the 4 in that lineup that makes Zion undersized? Can Zion not handle the likes of Paul Milsap? Can he not handle Jayson Tatum or Aminu? What about Harrison Barnes or Luka Doncic? Zion at the 4 in today's NBA really shouldn't be an issue at all.

Winslow played on pg position more than half of the season , PJ and Draymond are better defenders and they are good three point shooters ( Draymond was until this year and you see how his game dropped bc of that ), Draymond is better passer too so they have extra skills that make them good on that position.

He can't handle Milsap bc he is great defender who defends a lot of centers in a very good way and makes Jokic much less negative on defense, on offense is good on post and from distance, Aminu is great rebounder and defender and on offense he can shoot 3's , Barnes is bigger and he is 3 and D player, Doncic has better BBIQ, better playmaking abillity , better handles and is a better shooter and Tatum is also better shooter, has better handles and can get his shot and don't need someone to spoonfeed him . All of them have extra skills that help them to play as sf's and pf's. Crowder is good defender but he playable only on certain systems bc we saw that he wasn't good defender on Cavs as he is on Jazz and Celtics. Reason why i mentioned his size is that people think that he can play same as Lebron or Giannis but both of them are much taller than him .

[Wigginstime]

Zion is basically Charles Barkley playing in an Era where 3pt shooting and small ball basketball is king. The "he is undersized" argument is ridiculous as this point in time.

And comparing a kid one year removed from high school to a HOF'er isn't?

Never said he would be anywhere as good as Barkley. I simply compared his style of play to Barkley which is a a very standard practice when evaluating draft prospects. Look at any internet draft list, every single player has a "NBA comparable" listed. If you think my comment is ridiculous you clearly have never actually watched an NBA draft - you should try it sometime.

For example:

https://www.nbadraft.net/players/zion-williamson

which has the NBA comparables for Zion listed as Charles or Blake

[Q C]

Gilbert was 100% right about Lonzo

not sure what he said about lonzo but it's way too early to draw conclusions. he's 21 years old, is dominant defensively, and has the physical tools and IQ to become one of the league's top guards.

He just did a pretty good breakdown of why Lonzos shot wouldn't work at the NBA level and how his form makes it difficult to score at all

Watch on YouTube

[johanliebert]

its funny when you get expert opinion from a professional a guy who was an all nba talent...a gym rat who studied the game and everyone here calls him an idiot. you guys really think you know better than the pros huh?

[CycklopsGT]

In an era of 6'10" point guards, it's really weird to project a 6'6" guy with a questionable jump shot who people say will dominate the league as a pure power forward.