Gilbert Arenas gives his opinion on Zion Williamson

[IheartTHEhurt]

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.

That has zero to do with his playmaking ability.. when it comes to playmaking and running an offence give me Trae head and shoulders

[INKtastic]

PER 40.8 - nobody else topped 37 since stats were available on 09-10
ORtg 133.1
DRtg 87.4
TS .702
WS/40 .335

All while playing on the best team in the country in the best conference in the country, and the toughest schedule in the country.

[INKtastic]

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.

impossible to rig the lottery

[INKtastic]

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.

impossible to rig the lottery

[LakerLegend]

He's completely right. The NCAA Tournament actually killed the hype because he wasn't getting those highlights he got in the regular season. UCF, Virignia State and Michigan State exposed his lack of IQ, skill and versatility outside of athleticism.

You mean like Shaq?

Zion is closer to Kobe than he is to Shaq, in terms of size.

So is Draymond Green..

[INKtastic]

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).

from nbadraft.net "6’6 explosive forward … Good length with a 6’10.5 wingspan and 8’7 standing reach"

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

[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

The same thing was said about Griffin, questioning if he could handle bigger NBA guys and play the same bully ball in the NBA. He certainly was able to. Early on he did struggle against good taller, longer defenders because his perimeter game was more limited and they could just play off him, but he could still bully most guys. That was a league that played bigger in general than it does today. Today a lot of teams will play at least half the game with a guy at PF who is shorter and definitely lighter than Zion.

Even a guy like Faried who is all motor, and Zion definitely also has the motor too, but then more athleticism, size and skill, Faried as a rookie was able to put up 10/8/59% FG in 23 mpg.

I don't think the idea that he won't be able to still bully guys and get his around the basket holds up.

Griffins got a few inches on Zion. Plus don’t think anybody doubts Zion will be an effective player, just debate to the degree an offense will be able to rely on him

[E-Balla]

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).

from nbadraft.net "6’6 explosive forward … Good length with a 6’10.5 wingspan and 8’7 standing reach"

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

Those measurements have zero guarantee of being accurate.

[INKtastic]

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).

from nbadraft.net "6’6 explosive forward … Good length with a 6’10.5 wingspan and 8’7 standing reach"

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

Those measurements have zero guarantee of being accurate.

there are about a dozen sites with the exact same numbers

[Betta Bulleavit]

I like Zion. He’s a different kind of animal. Unlike anything that we’ve really seen. At least I haven’t. With that said though, I do feel that there are legitimate questions about how his current skill set will translate to the next level where he will be asked to do what he does against guys that are some of the best in the world in areas that have previously been an advantage for him.

I liken him to that fancy concept car that we’ve never seen before. The car checks all the boxes. Has the power. Cutting edge suspension. Looks real interesting. Sounds like a road ripper. But there’s always that chance that as cool as this new shiney ride looks and sounds, it might not necessarily be what you need or think it is. Maybe it’s a gas guzzler. Or perhaps that sexy engine doesn’t match the tranny. Maybe that body that looks so good today won’t hold up over time.

My point is, just because he may be a different type of player than anything that we’ve seen, it doesn’t mean that he should automatically be every team’s first choice to build their franchises around. He’s going to go number 1 to somebody. But there are days where I feel that his best value might be as a trade asset on draft night. And that includes my Bulls.

[dballislife]

the freak takes a dribble, steps, and starts galloping with those long legs and long arms and great speed and athleticism to the rim and finishes over everyone...simple move, doesnt take a lot of skill

shaq bulled his way in there too

if you have a freak body, you can do simple stuff and finish easily in todays you cant touch anyone on defense nba...and talking about your lack of skills, kids coming in the nba are always lacking skills, that what the nba and all those summers are for

[GordanFreeman]

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

TBH, anyone with eyes can see why Lonzo's form won't work in the NBA.

[GordanFreeman]

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).

from nbadraft.net "6’6 explosive forward … Good length with a 6’10.5 wingspan and 8’7 standing reach"

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

Those measurements have zero guarantee of being accurate.

Bud do you have any other numbers? He seems lengthy and he has wide shoulders too. I wouldn't be surprised if his standing reach is 8'7"+

[lilswift01]

His ball handling and passing is really impressive...how is that not a skill...how about his finishing at the rim and his footwork...gilbert is player hatin

Sent from my LG-H933 using RealGM mobile app

[INKtastic]

He's completely right. The NCAA Tournament actually killed the hype because he wasn't getting those highlights he got in the regular season. UCF, Virignia State and Michigan State exposed his lack of IQ, skill and versatility outside of athleticism.

you don't see BBIQ, skill or versatility here?

Watch on YouTube

[azcatz11]

I like Zion. He’s a different kind of animal. Unlike anything that we’ve really seen. At least I haven’t. With that said though, I do feel that there are legitimate questions about how his current skill set will translate to the next level where he will be asked to do what he does against guys that are some of the best in the world in areas that have previously been an advantage for him.

I liken him to that fancy concept car that we’ve never seen before. The car checks all the boxes. Has the power. Cutting edge suspension. Looks real interesting. Sounds like a road ripper. But there’s always that chance that as cool as this new shiney ride looks and sounds, it might not necessarily be what you need or think it is. Maybe it’s a gas guzzler. Or perhaps that sexy engine doesn’t match the tranny. Maybe that body that looks so good today won’t hold up over time.

My point is, just because he may be a different type of player than anything that we’ve seen, it doesn’t mean that he should automatically be every team’s first choice to build their franchises around. He’s going to go number 1 to somebody. But there are days where I feel that his best value might be as a trade asset on draft night. And that includes my Bulls.

Can't teach his motor though - watching their loss the other night it was ridiculous how hard he fights for every rebound. I've really never seen anything like that.

[awkwardlycool]

A lot of overthinking in this thread...Zion is one of the most efficient (if not the most efficient) college player ever. There are zero concerns about his athleticism, he's already shown progression and confidence in his jumpshot (40%+ from 3) and he's a great defender. He will be in the 95th percentile of athletes the second he steps foot in the NBA with the strength to match. Does he have concerns? Yes, like all prospects but he simply dominates into many areas not to at least be a quality player barring injury.

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[Duke4life831]

I mean this is just on another level

Read on Twitter

Elite in every area except for spot up shooting, and even that he was average. College athletes have seen freak athletes before, but this is just beyond ridiculous. I mean you have guys like Jaylen Brown who is 6'7 and an elite athlete, yet when he was in college for some reason he just didn't dominate college like Zion did.

In high school everyone said once he plays against the elite high school players he would be exposed. Once that happened, he played better and then everyone said, once he goes against college players he will be exposed. Yet once again he showed that didn't happen and dominated even more. For those that think he is just out athleting people, you will be surprised.

[jamalkandur]

Read on Twitter

?s=20

"i deserve my own TV show" written all over him, dude has knowledge + personality = good rating.

[JN61]

He's right. He won't be very good first option on successful NBA team with his current skillset. He's (was I guess) big boy playing in small boys league where he was able physically dominate others. In NBA that is significantly harder because there are multiple guys who are able to defend that strength in the post and on perimeter are quicker to guard than him.

I see him struggle heavily in NBA if he's picked to a team that has no other star player. In NBA teams can just collapse their defense, making it impossible for him to drive and help defense rotation is superior in NBA compared to college and he's not point guard type of passer that can easily find open man in such cases. Just putting up numbers in a losing team is not measure of success to me.