Is it fair to call Zion a “bust”?

[Liam_Gallagher]

All of these people calling him a bust would be doing back flips if their team got him.

[leolozon]

There are tiers to this. He’s certainly been disappointing. I would have trouble calling him a bust without having to explain myself. So not really a straight bust.

I remember polls before he even entered the league and a lof of people were saying that they would rather have him than Doncic who had already proven what he can do.

[Woodsanity]

He had the potential to be a better version of Barkley which is crazy so yes he is somewhat of a bust....

[Childs]

I remember in 2019 it felt like the most hype player since Lebron

[Chuck Everett]

This is why people need to put some respect on Charles Barkley's name. Zion is an undersized PF that can only go left, doesn't rebound and has no jumpshot. His hype never made sense to me, especially when you couple that with the injury concerns. Draymond literally just sits on his left hand and waits for him to charge into him. Lebron does the same thing. Does Zion not watch film? Probably not.

[Black Jack]

Not a bust but just doesn’t love the game enough to max out his talent.

He’s in that Derrick Coleman category where he does well but everyone is always gonna complain about him not being what they want him to be as an elite talent.

[hardenASG13]

Yes I think it’s fair. He’s still a good player, but with his talent he should be a top 5 player at worst. His lack of hustle since being drafted is shocking.

Whats his talent though? He's good at driving and spinning in some ridiculous angle shots inside, but not sure why people ever thought that would lead him to being the top player in the league or anything. His playmaking has always been average, decent rebounder, and can score inside. That's not best player in the league stuff in the modern NBA. It's all star level, which is what he is.

[JRoy]

Bust. Always hurt, power lay up guy.

[Hair Jordan]

I called him a bust a few months ago and got flamed for it. He’s definitely a bust though. You can be a good or even multiple time All Star type of player and still be a bust, especially if you consider the hype and expectations he entered the league with.

[DaddyCool19]

Not a bust but surely underwhelming, especially if you consider that he probably missed more games than he played since joining the NBA.

[zero rings]

Yes I think it’s fair. He’s still a good player, but with his talent he should be a top 5 player at worst. His lack of hustle since being drafted is shocking.

Whats his talent though? He's good at driving and spinning in some ridiculous angle shots inside, but not sure why people ever thought that would lead him to being the top player in the league or anything. His playmaking has always been average, decent rebounder, and can score inside. That's not best player in the league stuff in the modern NBA. It's all star level, which is what he is.

He doesn’t need to be a super versatile player. He’s a walking mismatch in the paint, and if he played hard that would be enough. Zion could average 30 ppg on 60% shooting if he just kept in shape and hustled on the court.

The dude literally peaked at Duke.

[bubonicphoniks]

Yes to the NBA world I think its fair. They were talking about this guy like he was the second coming.

Personally I'm not into gimmicky 6'6 power forwards who can't really shoot.

[Black star]

This is a silly thread.

If you bought a powerball million dollar lottery ticket and only got back 10,000 instead of the grand prize would you call your lottery ticket a bust? Because that makes about as much sense as calling Zion a bust

[tbhawksfan1]

Can't have a bust without expectations and potential...so yeah, based on expectations and potential he busted

If it's true it's fair

[SomeBunghole]

If you bought a powerball million dollar lottery ticket and only got back 10,000 instead of the grand prize would you call your lottery ticket a bust? Because that makes about as much sense as calling Zion a bust

The Hornets didn't buy one ticket, they bought thousands of tickets and got 10 grand. That's the issue here. Draft position matters. If Zion was drafted 17th by Brooklyn in that draft, he wouldn't be a bust.

[Chuck Everett]

This is a silly thread.

If you bought a powerball million dollar lottery ticket and only got back 10,000 instead of the grand prize would you call your lottery ticket a bust? Because that makes about as much sense as calling Zion a bust

Tell that to the Pelicans' fans who want to see some franchise success. This is type of "prize" will not be looked at favorably. Great for Zion financially, not so much for the fans of that team.

[Duke4life831]

I would say ya.

Between being overweight the majority of the seasons he’s been in the NBA. The fact that the Pels have played multiple playoff series and multiple play in games during his time with the team and he has yet to play a minute in any of those.

The fact he was a DPOY finalist in college and has been viewed as a defensive liability for the majority of his career.

And it’s not like he did these things in college but had clear physical limitations, like a Luka Garza, Frank Mason and so on. The dude was a physical marvel and seemed to come along at the perfect time with so much emphasis on positional versatility and fast paced play.

The fact that we’re in year 6 and the idea of a healthy and in shape Zion is basically viewed as this white whale that we’ve only seen glimpses of basically says it all to me. With the hype that he has coming in, ya he’s been a bust.

[Duke4life831]

This is a silly thread.

If you bought a powerball million dollar lottery ticket and only got back 10,000 instead of the grand prize would you call your lottery ticket a bust? Because that makes about as much sense as calling Zion a bust

I wouldn’t view it like this. It would be more along the lines of

Say you bought a powerball million dollar ticket and you won the million dollars. But while they were transferring the money to your bank, there was an accounting error and you only received 10k and they told you there was no way of getting back the remaining 990k.

Sure it’s cool you still got 10k, but it’s still a major disappointment because you thought you were coming away with 1 mil.

[TheHartBreakKid]

It's very fair to say that he has been a disappointment, relative to his hype and potential. But a bust? No way.

[Beethoven]

This is a silly thread.

If you bought a powerball million dollar lottery ticket and only got back 10,000 instead of the grand prize would you call your lottery ticket a bust? Because that makes about as much sense as calling Zion a bust

Well yeah sure..
If you bought Zion for 5 bucks.