[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 This is definitely a bummer given how great he looked in preseason. There isn’t a definitive timetable for his return right now but he’s expected to miss "weeks". It’s kind of concerning that the knee injury he suffered at duke still doesn’t appear to have fully healed and is giving him problems. Hopefully, this isn’t a sign of bigger problem. 

[holefillers1Participant]

 I believe it is definitely a sign of bigger problems.   He puts tons of torque on his joints every time he explodes to the basket.  He also plays a very physical game of basketball while carrying all that weight.  I would love to see this kid match up with some of the leagues best but he is going to wear down quickly if he doesn’t drop weight.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 Bummer.

Needs to get that weight under control.  Maybe even tweak his game — more jumpers.  

Not saying that there are red flags already but I DID have Ja Morant higher on my big board.  Durability and tweener issues concerned me.

Is this unprecedented?  Who knows… maybe Zion is FAT Elgin Baylor, and Baylor wasn’t even the same after he hurt his knee.

One guy I vaguely remember who "ate his way out of the league" was John "Hot Plate" Williams.  BEFORE he "ate too much" he looked great, like a combo forward with some guard skills.  I checked out one of his highlight reels on YouTube.  Interesting player who might have been ahead of his time.  Ironically, not even the most famous basketball player named John Williams in his era.  That distinction goes to the late Hot Rod.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 Given that Morey made China mad and supposedly that will knock 10% off revenues, and LeBron is now a BAD GUY (according to many), and ALSO given that Zion looks to be the "future brand" of the NBA, could revenue/ratings/buzz be down 20% to 25% this year?  Or… at least from expected levels.

So, basically, the NBA’s BIG THREE (LeBron, China, Zion — not necessarily in that order) got "nuked".

Maybe the league’s brass needs to shift some marketing dollars and hype over to Luka Doncic and Ja Morant.  Plus, some new look Knicks such as RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson.

Should Zion Williamson’s next public contest be at Wrestlemania next year?

[TarHeelRavenParticipant]

 Zion is not fat at all.  He’s just a really big muscular dude.  I do think its an issue that his knee keeps bothering him at 19 years old.  As I’ve said many times, his skill has a long way to go before it catches up with is elite athleticism.  If he doesn’t develop at least a jumper that teams need to respect, I just can’t see this guy playing for a very long time.  

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 Maybe Zion should just play center full time.  Keep him closer to the bucket.  Have him just guard the basket a bit and rebound.  Don’t have him chase guys around the perimeter (and there are not THAT many stretch centers, or if they are most aren’t incredibly athletic).  

He needs to turn into mini-Shaq on offense and don’t have him try to iniate his own offense 15 to 20 feet out.

Zion needs to LOAD MANAGE his entire career.

[OhCanada-Participant]

Like Embiid.

[The GoatParticipant]

 He has looked fantastic but I have to say I repeatedly banged on about this leading up to the draft and I’ve always had concerns for his career if he lost his vertical. He’s got knee issues after a few preseason games.. not a great sign.

[The GoatParticipant]

https://www.nbadraft.net/forum/zion-williamson-hype

[OhCanada-Participant]

What bullshit I bought tickets to see his debut live in Toronto and hes sitting out the season opener because of knee soreness? The NBA is a &$#%#&@! joke.

[mowestenParticipant]

I think I have personally beat this horse to death here … don’t wish him ill, I think if he stays healthy, he has a chance to be an all time great.

But I would be shocked if he wasn’t perpetually injured throughout his career. He’s not only heavy, but he carries a lot of his weight in his hips and lower body. LeBron, who is a huge guy and weighs a lot for a basketball player, carries a lot of his weight in his shoulders and is just built different.

Zion is a unique athlete, I don’t think there has ever been anybody quite like him in the NBA so it’s hard to say how his career will turn out. I’m kinda skeptical that someone that big and explosive will stay healthy, but we’ll see. So far, it’s off to a sketchy start.

 

 

[OhCanada-Participant]

Kinda ironic that he gets drafted to New Orleans of all places. Not the best city to be in if your on a diet. At least hes not the legal drinking age.

[cohenbc1Participant]

 There used to be a joke that the legal drinking age in New Orleans was "Tall enough to see over the bar." But it’s probably not like that anymore.

[pokieParticipant]

 The Lakers getting the 1st pick to facilitate the AD trade kind of handcuffed the Pelicans. There was no way New Orleans could not select Zion. They would have been crucified if they had traded back no matter what the deal looked like.

Then they kind of reached at eight with Jaxon Hayes. They’re not even playing him.

For me, Barrett or Morant in a trade, then Hachimura at eight, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker again at seventeen (a steal) is all you can really expect to get out of one draft. Would Atlanta have given up four and ten or four and Collins for Zion? You know they would have.

I just hope Zion heals up O.K. and the staff figures out his workload and reasonable playing weight so he can just get out there and play and amaze everybody like he has been doing. The Big Easy deserves a happy ending this time.

 

 

[Andv1 WaitingParticipant]

 Zion was there only choice for mulitple reasons:

1) You don’t want to be the team that passed on the next lebron/Blake Griffin.

As for the rest of your comment.

2) R.J Barret can’t go left and is sort of a chucker and Ja is the same position as a key piece from A.D trade which was happenng regardless-Lonzo so JA would be probably coming off the bench if they had taken him…Which isn’t good for a rookies confidence or a top 3 pick usually unless the team is a title contender..

3)The pelicans trade with hawks wouldn’t have been that due to the 4th pick being the pelicans pick already…They trade this back for the 8th and 17th pick..As nobody else was worth that cap hit of a 4th pick as Ja and R.J were gone by then..Which they couldn’t have gotten multiple assets for if they traded up for them.

4)Hayes is sort of hard to call as I see him as sort of a project(which is what i think they saw him as to).He is skinny(meaning he needs to bulk up a little),has range, is athletic and is the perfect pairing to be beside Zion if his shot is consistent…But when he has been on the floor with Ball he has looked alright…I also think they wanted to see who will be the keep out of Favours and Jahlil…So just give him time.The only prospect they could have taken at 8 other than Hayes that wouldn’t have been seen as a reach was Rui,the issue there was this though-Ingram and Zion both play his positons of choice.. Meaning he to would be seeing not alot of court time either…Well barring Zion being Injured which was a 50/50 split on who thought he would be this bad injury wise…

[Andv1 WaitingParticipant]

 I have Three predictions to what this actually may be…

SO the injuries Im guessing it maybe-

Bone bruise(banging knees in summerleague) the most likely which wasn’t fully healed.He could have said he was good to go in preason but wasn’t fully ready…

or 

Mensicus injury of some sort see Ja morant injury sort of deal(the one he missed preseason with) where it will be a clean up of some debre in Knee

as ligamental injury he is probably done for the season if he had this not a couple of weeks?

That they pelicans secretly want him to be in better shape so have faked injury to get him a little more time as that way they time to get him into shape for reg season as  once that starts there will be little time to do this..Preserving his longterm future.

and

The other thing would be maybe they want his debut to be at home and not on a ring cermony night(if Raptors do this on opening night)…So he isn’t so nervous/stressed about things due to alot of pressure/Hype. Not likely but still could be a chance to why it was this…

But if Zion is smart he will get Gentry to help him get in touch with Blake Grffin(ex clippers coach so could be possible) and help give him advice to how to expand game and handle this sort of thing as he was also number 1 and similar type of game coming into league..

[HitsterParticipant]

Shame for Zion, the guy isn’t overweight he’s just very muscular but if dropping 20 to 30lbs would reduce the stress on his body without him losing strength then maybe trimming down will be a good option. But teams have vast medical staff, dieticians etc so they will know how best to advise him.

He can be bought back slowly and on a playing time limit to get him up and running.

[Author]

Posts