I'm just gonna say it now... Zion Williamson is the best player in this class. I had major question marks about him, but what he's shown against these Canadian teams (Yes, I know, bad competition, whatever) is eye-opening. Didn't realize this dude had the ball skills and the moves that he does. He's much more than just a dunker, and at the PF spot, he'll be unguardable... Put a smaller, quicker player on him and he'll destroy them in the low-post. Put a slower, bigger player on him and he'll destroy them on the perimeter and on the drive. His ability to hang and finish in creative ways is uncanny for a guy of his build. Shows flashes of good vision, a pull-up jumper, and the ability to be a secondary ball-handler. This dudes gonna be a problem.
Sounds like LeBron. Not saying he’s going to be the beat player in the world, but his build and athletic ability sound similar.
He has some creative finishes too that I've only seen from LeBron in regards to a layup package for a player that size.
I'm perfectly fine tanking this season for a chance at him. Let Dame and CJ sit for the year. Play the young guys all year.
Bulk/strength/explosive leaper -- he's literally a 6'7" Shaq in terms of sheer bulk and freaky athleticism. LeBron never had this kind of bulk. In fact, at the same age LeBron was 40 lbs lighter than Mt. Zion.
Rarely is the hype real. He's loved by casual fans due to his dunking ability, so I figured he was overrated and that was his whole game... I was definitely wrong.
Yeah, I'll be surprised if Zion doesn't go number one. He seems like a smart, self-aware and hard working kid too judging from interviews. A lot of people still have Barrett there but I'm not sure what his elite skill is and his physical tools aren't elite either. Interested to see Shareef O'Neal at UCLA. Ranked outside the top 30 but his versatility and athleticism are very intriguing.
I’ve seen a bunch of his videos and I’m honesty not sure how I feel about him. He should definitely be a top 5 pick if not #1. He’s got an NBA body already, a lot of the time I see him its against clearly inferior athletes (not just competition) but he basically lives in the paint and around the basket. He kind of reminds me of Kennith Faried if Faried had a handle, kind of an undersized 4/5 but thick, strong athletic is going to be way better than Faried but he is also going to find NBA players tougher to just move out of the way. It would be awesome if the Blazers s found a way to get him.
On further thought he’s much better than Faried and not that comparable, I think what I am getting at is that from what I’ve seen of him he gets by, by just being way more athletic than everyone else on the floor.
That's what I thought about him too, until I actually watched him. Have you seen his past two games? He's not only scoring because he's more athletic than people. He's using his athleticism in such a creative and crafty way that it doesn't matter who he'd play against, he'd be getting these shots up regardless. Through 2 games he's shown a pullup jumper, a very good hop step, a very sharp Euro Step, an array of off-footed "funky" layups, inside handed layups, to go along with flashes of vision, great foot, and shake. He's always gong ti be able to finish through contact too. He's going to be a great rebounder due to his strength, leaping ability, quick jump, and motor. Comparing him to Faried is like comparing Meyers to Embiid. He should be the 1st overall pick.
I have watched him, and he misses a lot of easy shots, his pull up jumper is kind of a work in progress in my opinion. The thing is even when he misses he’s athletic enough to just go get it and put it back anyways. I see the reason for the hype, and Id be thrilled if he became a Blazer. Just it’s a completely different look when you have to play other guys who are professional NBA athletes. Maybe Julius Randle is a better comparison? Also young Faried was a freaking beast on the boards and on the break, his game never really evolved but he was a crazy athlete that got by in the NBA for a while by just being more athletic than a lot of people.
I could see that. The guys built like a freight train like Charles Barkley but taller. He’s definitely An NBA athlete. I’m not trying to disparage the guy, I did say I want him to be a Blazer...
What are you basing this on? He shot 40 for 62 (65%) in three Canada Tour games... the rest is a continued premise that he's just played well because he's more athletic, which is simply not the case.
I based it on even in his highlight video he missed like 4 layups and put them back for dunks. So it all worked out. The guy is simply way more athletic, bigger, stronger, faster, and quicker than basically all the guys he was playing against. Look at him out there It looked like the globetrotters and nationals going at it... What I’m saying is we won’t really know how skilled he is until he’s playing competition that’s a lot closer to him athletically. He’s getting anything he wants vs guys that basically have no way to do anything about it.
Some team with a real rebuilding plan will love him. Our 7th place finish and first round exit will make up for it though