Gilbert Arenas gives his opinion on Zion Williamson

[Dan Z]

"You just Blake Griffin it". Blake has had a pretty good career.

[jlokine]

he is raising legit questions.. questions we'll find out when zion steps on the court in the fall.. he could prove those takes wrong or he could prove them right.. i dont get why people cant be objective and just conclude, "let's see it play out" instead of either concluding zion is a hall of famer/superstar or a bust..

[jlokine]

"You just Blake Griffin it". Blake has had a pretty good career.

yea he has.. but people are making zion to be the next lebron.. which blake is not.

[E-Balla]

Is he really any different than Charles Barkley though? I can't see anything that has Barkley's official wingspan, but most places I see people listing it at 6'10-6'11. And again Barkley played in a time when 4s were true Power Forwards and were banging down low and were much more physically imposing compared to today's NBA. So even if Barkley's wingspan was an inch or 2 longer, I think with today being much more perimeter oriented, it cancels out the difference. And Barkley had 0 issues with his size.

Admittedly I cant prove it , but just visually Barkley clearly looks to have a 7+ wingspan . His arms are so long they’re almost goofy looking and unproportional. It was a major advantage in helping him extend and finish around the rim





If you look back, most of these undersized 4s like Draymond, Barkley, Shawn Marion, Millsap etc had freakishly unproportional wingspans to go with their athleticism. Zion’s wingspan is pretty ordinary and in line with his height (not even where Julius Randle was at 6’11) so it’ll be interesting to see how that impacts his game on the margins.

But what about Zion's vertical? It's freakish and you think it'll be easy to get by him in the post? It's going to be like running into a brick wall for some of the guys in the NBA.

You can't jump for everything. If you're guarding the rim standing reach matters more than anything else because a player (especially in the NBA) can jump into you and neutralize your hops as a shot blocker. Watch a player like Zion when people attack his body vs what happens when someone does that against Draymond. I've seen Dray get quite a few flat footed blocks taking the contact and staying tall with his arms up.

[IheartTHEhurt]

If there is a basketball God, then Zion will be delivered to the Atlanta Hawks on draft night.

Young, Huerter, Zion, Collins will be high quality entertainment for years to come

[Dan Z]

"You just Blake Griffin it". Blake has had a pretty good career.

yea he has.. but people are making zion to be the next lebron.. which blake is not.

People will always overhype prospects. I don't remember what was talked about when Blake was in college but I bet there were some crazy comments about his potential.

[316Hornets]

If there is a basketball God, then Zion will be delivered to the Atlanta Hawks on draft night.

Young, Huerter, Zion, Collins will be high quality entertainment for years to come

Add Dallas' draft pick to the group as well if they don't get lucky.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

If there is a basketball God, then Zion will be delivered to the Atlanta Hawks on draft night.

Young, Huerter, Zion, Collins will be high quality entertainment for years to come

[bisme37]

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.

But that's what Gilbert (and others) said about Zion. That he's too short to play the 4 but not skilled enough to play the 3. It's the classic tweener criticism. I disagree with it if I didn't make that clear.

[Dark Faze]

The issue is Gil isn't giving enough credit to Zion as a slasher/passer. The downsizing of the position at the 4...who is going to be checking Zion on slashes to the basket? The help defense has to commit more than it does in college because of the longer 3pt line. Very few guys are going to be able to handle Zions slashing without help. Now if he couldn't pass he'd be ass, but he can pass, and he can get a lot of hustle points and play off the ball as a cutter.

He's going to be very good. I don't know if he'll ever be considered a top 3 player in the game, because those players are usually just so dominant as scorers, but he's going to be a great player.

A good comparison is Randle who had some similar issues. Undersized for his position, was just running undersized guys over in college to get his points. Ran into walls for a couple of years in LA before starting to figure it out. And really Zion has better tools than Randle.

[IheartTHEhurt]

If there is a basketball God, then Zion will be delivered to the Atlanta Hawks on draft night.

Young, Huerter, Zion, Collins will be high quality entertainment for years to come

Add Dallas' draft pick to the group as well if they don't get lucky.

If, and I stress if, the Hawks were to land Zion then I think a good solid Vet added to the starting lineup would be more important. Someone to be the Yoda of the group and keep everyone grounded. I think that Prince is definitely on his way out not because he is a bad player but more of he is a bad fit with what the Hawks are trying to do. If someone trades for Prince I think are gonna be pretty pleased cause the guy needs a change of scenery

[NoDopeOnSundays]

The issue is Gil isn't giving enough credit to Zion as a slasher/passer. The downsizing of the position at the 4...who is going to be checking Zion on slashes to the basket? The help defense has to commit more than it does in college because of the longer 3pt line. Very few guys are going to be able to handle Zions slashing without help. Now if he couldn't pass he'd be ass, but he can pass, and he can get a lot of hustle points and play off the ball as a cutter.

He's going to be very good. I don't know if he'll ever be considered a top 3 player in the game, because those players are usually just so dominant as scorers, but he's going to be a great player.

A good comparison is Randle who had some similar issues. Undersized for his position, was just running undersized guys over in college to get his points. Ran into walls for a couple of years in LA before starting to figure it out. And really Zion has better tools than Randle.

The ideal landing spot for him would be Dallas if they can convince Kristaps to play the 5, he'd have all the room in the world to slash and would be a dangerous PnR rollman with Luka.

[IheartTHEhurt]

The issue is Gil isn't giving enough credit to Zion as a slasher/passer. The downsizing of the position at the 4...who is going to be checking Zion on slashes to the basket? The help defense has to commit more than it does in college because of the longer 3pt line. Very few guys are going to be able to handle Zions slashing without help. Now if he couldn't pass he'd be ass, but he can pass, and he can get a lot of hustle points and play off the ball as a cutter.

He's going to be very good. I don't know if he'll ever be considered a top 3 player in the game, because those players are usually just so dominant as scorers, but he's going to be a great player.

A good comparison is Randle who had some similar issues. Undersized for his position, was just running undersized guys over in college to get his points. Ran into walls for a couple of years in LA before starting to figure it out. And really Zion has better tools than Randle.

The ideal landing spot for him would be Dallas if they can convince Kristaps to play the 5, he'd have all the room in the world to slash and would be a dangerous PnR rollman with Luka.

Luka can desire to be the pick and roll threat that Trae Young is.. It's second nature to Trae and effortless compared to a slow European white boy

[IheartTHEhurt]

I'm white.. but it is what it is.. Luka moves two gears slower then Trae

[Illmatic12]

The issue is Gil isn't giving enough credit to Zion as a slasher/passer. The downsizing of the position at the 4...who is going to be checking Zion on slashes to the basket? The help defense has to commit more than it does in college because of the longer 3pt line. Very few guys are going to be able to handle Zions slashing without help. Now if he couldn't pass he'd be ass, but he can pass, and he can get a lot of hustle points and play off the ball as a cutter.

He's going to be very good. I don't know if he'll ever be considered a top 3 player in the game, because those players are usually just so dominant as scorers, but he's going to be a great player.

A good comparison is Randle who had some similar issues. Undersized for his position, was just running undersized guys over in college to get his points. Ran into walls for a couple of years in LA before starting to figure it out. And really Zion has better tools than Randle.

The thing is , if he's the primary ballhandler defenses will just sit back and wall off the paint. Zion isn't Giannis where he has the length and strides to easily get all the way to the rim, and he doesn't have an elite guard-level handle + shooting like a Durant where he can break a guy down and beat him off the dribble. Zion's slashing will have to come mainly from secondary action, where the defense is already moving and then he gets it off the catch and straightline sprints to the rim. At least until he loses weight and develops his handle to where he has elite shiftiness on the perimeter.

Your post indicates something very key, which is that Zion is not this plug and play superstar like a lot of people think. He has to specifically play with players who spread the floor and give him wider driving lanes. And preferably he needs to be paired with an elite perimeter player who can handle the ball and occupy 2 defenders in the PnR, that way Zion is able to be a finisher and not primary initiator.

The team that Zion goes to will be very important for his development. If he lands on a team like Dallas or Atlanta, he will fit right in as that secondary slasher surrounded by shooting. But if he goes to say Memphis or Cleveland, and is placed in a position where he is expected to be a primary creator for a bunch of offensively-inept role players, it will be very awkward for him and before long public opinion will start to pick him apart.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

The issue is Gil isn't giving enough credit to Zion as a slasher/passer. The downsizing of the position at the 4...who is going to be checking Zion on slashes to the basket? The help defense has to commit more than it does in college because of the longer 3pt line. Very few guys are going to be able to handle Zions slashing without help. Now if he couldn't pass he'd be ass, but he can pass, and he can get a lot of hustle points and play off the ball as a cutter.

He's going to be very good. I don't know if he'll ever be considered a top 3 player in the game, because those players are usually just so dominant as scorers, but he's going to be a great player.

A good comparison is Randle who had some similar issues. Undersized for his position, was just running undersized guys over in college to get his points. Ran into walls for a couple of years in LA before starting to figure it out. And really Zion has better tools than Randle.

The ideal landing spot for him would be Dallas if they can convince Kristaps to play the 5, he'd have all the room in the world to slash and would be a dangerous PnR rollman with Luka.

Luka can desire to be the pick and roll threat that Trae Young is.. It's second nature to Trae and effortless compared to a slow European white boy

The Mavs are a better spot for him than the Hawks, he needs someone like Kristaps to play with in the frontcourt, Collins is good but he's too small to be a center and Zion will ultimately be best at the 4. Your offense would score a lot, but your defense would be terrible with Trae at PG and your frontcourt being 6'10 and 6'6.

[Catchall]

Wait til he ends up in Cleveland...

Actually, the league has a vested interest in putting him in a big market. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

[Catchall]

I'm white.. but it is what it is.. Luka moves two gears slower then Trae

Ok, he's also 6 or 7 inches taller.

[Zombiesonics]

he doesn't have that innate ability to manipulate a defense and score at will like a young kd,, he's more like anthony davis but with some question marks around his size. definitely not the 'total package'.

[IheartTHEhurt]

The ideal landing spot for him would be Dallas if they can convince Kristaps to play the 5, he'd have all the room in the world to slash and would be a dangerous PnR rollman with Luka.

Luka can desire to be the pick and roll threat that Trae Young is.. It's second nature to Trae and effortless compared to a slow European white boy

The Mavs are a better spot for him than the Hawks, he needs someone like Kristaps to play with in the frontcourt, Collins is good but he's too small to be a center and Zion will ultimately be best at the 4. Your offense would score a lot, but your defense would be terrible with Trae at PG and your frontcourt being 6'10 and 6'6.

I understand your argument, but Collins already plays a good clip at center.. No hate I love Luka and look forward to the battles to come because we know it is coming