I'm so unbelievably hype.
We have Zion. We have all the leverage in any AD trade. We still have Jrue.
Let's DO this!
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One problem with AD staying is that he and Zion are both PFs and AD doesn't want to play center. Unless you want to move AD out to SF like Durant. Don't think that works.
If AD stays, he's playing center. If he says ''I'll stay, but only if I can keep playing PF, and also cause of that you'll have to hamper Zion's development'' then we say, cool, have fun in New York.
Like Griffin said, you're either all in, or you're all out. And if you're all in, you'll play center.
I would love to keep him, but the bridge may be too burnt to reconstruct.
Now that the Lakers got the 4th pick I much rather deal with them over the Knicks.
Ingram, Kuzma, Ball, & DeAndre Hunter(the next Kawhi hopefully lol) is a way better haul than what the Knicks have to offer IMO.
C: Okafor
PF: Zion
SF: Ingram
SG: Jrue
PG: Ball
F: Kuzma
F: Hunter
Then turnaround and possibly trade Ingram or Ball or both. It just gives us some serious flexibility
I really don't want Ball here longterm. I'd just as soon keep Payton for now until we get something better.
@AntDavis23 u mentoring the no. 1 pick or yah? #reconciliation
— cameron jordan (@camjordan94) May 15, 2019
Cam Jordan laying down the gauntlet.
This is surreal.
Honestly, I don't think he's really comparable to anyone. He's such an insanely unique prospect who is a complete joy to watch. But, and this might be an unpopular opinion, but I think the closest thing would be Blake Griffin right when he was hitting his perfect medium of unheard of athleticism and sublime passing ability. I think people forget how good Blake is at passing and how great his feel for the game is. And I think Zion is like that as a 19 YEAR OLD. I'm so excited.
But he does come with the same issues as Blake had when he was 25. He really can't shoot, and his release is awful. That's absolutely something he needs to work on, but I honestly think Zion's absolute ceiling is maybe a 36% 3pt shooter. And I don't think that's likely. He also has really short arms and he's only 6'7" ish, so despite his leaping ability (which I'm still not sure is real), he'll have pretty serious limitations as a rim protector. He also gets lost off ball too much on D and stands around on offense sometimes, but that's literally every 19 year old to ever come out, so that doesn't worry me especially because he usually does hustle so much.
My ideal team around him starts with another big who can do the 2 things he can't: shoot and alter shots close to the basket. Now, obviously those kind of bigs don't grow on trees, but we have a few options. First, and most obviously, we can keep AD who at least has a semblance of a shot and is incredible on D. But I really don't want him in that locker room because of all the **** that went down, and the most important thing is making sure Zion is comfortable and respected. So next would be making a deal to take a (semi) risk on a young big with the potential to do both. The two that immediately come to mind would be Bol Bol and Mohammad Bomba, both of which I would assume would cost about the same price, neither of whom would come in the actual AD trade. Finally, would be going after Brooke Lopez in free agency as he does both, but I don't think Milwaukee lets him go even if we could afford him.
Next, I'd put someone who can guard the point of attack, be a secondary scorer, shoot decently, and provide a steady presence on the court. We have the best version of that player in Jrue.
After that, I'd want a point guard who can shoot and run with Zion on the break while not being trash on D. The first person to come to mind is SGA from the Clips, who can put together a solid package (Shamet would be a perfect 3rd guard off the bench) but one that can be topped by a few others. If Lonzo's jumpshot didn't look like a whale trying to **** a doorknob, he would fit like a glove. I'm blanking on other options, but you get the general outline I'm going for hopefully.
And finally, the Pelican's perpetual white whale, a legitimate 3&D wing. Here is where I would splurge with the AD trade. See if the Thunder have any interest at all in something built around AD for PG. Boston's duo of Tatum and Brown would be two great lottery tickets if they still want AD. Get a top 5 pick and grab RJ Hunter (who I absolutely love). We have ammo, keep shooting until we finally hit the target.
That's a really general outline, but that would be something like my perfect team around Zion. Youth, shooting, transition, a rim protector, and high character. Zion takes care of everything else. What a night.
The real best thing about Zion is I've seen him switch onto point guards and not look lost and helpless. This gives our defense so much versatility...
Zion doesn't have short arms. He's got at least a 6'10" wingspan. I mean, he's no Draymond Green, but he's hardly a T-Rex either.
Knicks: We'll give you the No. 1 pick for Anthony Davis
— FanDuel (@FanDuel) May 15, 2019
Pelicans: pic.twitter.com/RSKrrdgOZd
The early word is AD still wants a trade.
Our #NBA Insider @ShamsCharania reports that, despite the Pelicans winning the No. 1 pick in the Draft Lottery, Anthony Davis' stance on a trade hasn't changed.
— The Athletic NBA (@TheAthleticNBA) May 15, 2019
So what should the Pels do? What should other teams offer? Join our subscriber discussion.https://t.co/mTTabaoYJS
Just cut your response down a bit so that it doesn't take up as much room in my quote. Got a few things to say about this.
I think there have been a lot of good comparisons. Honestly, Zion is fairly comparable to Lebron James. Not identical, no, but there are similarities. In terms of skill set, Zion also has some resemblance with Giannis.
It's true that Zion isn't sniper, but he isn't a complete non-shooter, and I don't think his release is awful. His shot isn't great, but it doesn't look completely broken and is the sort of thing that I think can be worked on. It even improved over the course of his one year at Duke: he was shooting 29.4% from three in December, and finished the season shooting basically 34%. Obviously that's not incredible still, but I think he has the potential to get up to being a 35-37% shooter in time.
He doesn't have really short arms at all. His length looks fine. Like Eman said, he's not Draymond Green, but his wingspan looks to be 6'10 or so, which is totally fine. This is just me, but I also wouldn't be surprised if he turned out to be a little taller than he's listed: RJ Barrett is also listed at 6'7, but Zion looked clearly taller tonight when they were both stood next to each other at the lottery. I wouldn't be surprised if Zion was 6'9.
Zion is a rim protector. You don't have to be a shot blocker to protect the rim: just look at how Draymond Green is a very good paint defender despite being a very poor shot blocker. Zion has that IQ, that hustle, and actually is a decent shot blocker anyway.
I agree that a shooting big would be very helpful: Bol Bol was a name I've been promoting for months and I could see him coming to us via the Boston pick if we end up taking that deal. I'm not nearly as hot on SGA as some other,s but I can see some benefit there as well.
Fine, the only big man on the floor. Whatever. But yes, that is what he should play if he could protect the rim because he can't shoot and surrounding him with 4 shooters would make him basically unstoppable on offense. Also, just thought of Jaren Jackson and now I think that the Grizzlies might be a perfect trade destination if they are willing to give up JJJ and the number 2 pick, although I don't think that's likely since I doubt AD re-signs there.
AD to stay just to not have to play against Zion (lol!). He'd rather play with him than against him.
Also, I just checked: Zion shot 39.6% from three in the final 20 games of his season, stretching from January 5th to March 31st.
There's definitely potential there.
The lowkey wonderful thing about the draft lottery is that the Lakers are behind the Knicks to continue force Lakers to outbid other teams.They would of been sitting pretty at 3rd with the highest quality pick to trade.
I'd get both trade offers on the table and wait till the last minute to pull the trigger. Lakers are so desperate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kexm...ature=youtu.be
Just want to add that according to this new Draft Profile from ESPN on Zion, his wingspan is 6'11.5''
Yeah, it's fine.
This was absolutely perfect. The only way it could have worked out better is if the lakers got the 2
Chose between Ja Morant, Ingram, Ball etc package
Or
Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, DSJ/Knox package.
As it stands in reality, I like the Knicks package best. (Over Lakers and Celtics)
Oh I know. I didn't even realise how good he was as a shooter and I still wasn't worried because his skillset, like Giannis, is so huge.
But when you realise that actually, there's a little bit of a jumper in there too? Suddenly even the smallest doubts get squashed.
Now that Zion is ours. I 100% do not want AD here. Use him as the chip to build around Zion like we should have with AD.
Move him. Get young assets and picks. Usa a pick to move solo to free up more money. I want Kemba or Vucevic with AD's money. Resign Payton. Let Randle go. Extend Jah.
Iron Lion Zion! Jah!
DSJ
Jrue
Barrett
Knox
Zion
Robinson
Max cap space and beyond to sign players.
I don’t know if knicks would give up all 3 of those guys plus Barrett, but this is an amazing night.
I really don't want AD here - now more than ever.
Coach Alvin Gentry reacts to the @PelicansNBA winning the 2019 #NBADraftLottery. pic.twitter.com/miV5cmVT3Y
— NBA (@NBA) May 15, 2019
His wingspan still concerns me, and I strongly believe he needs a rim protector next to him, but his athleticism might make up for that so I'll let it go.
But his shooting is a legitimate concern. College 3 point percentage really isn't a great predictor of NBA 3 point percentage, especially on a low number of shots. Zion only took two 3's a game which equates to a total sample size of about 70 shots. Free throw percentage is a much better predictor and he only shot 64% from the line on around 6 FTsper game which is not good. But his shot really worries me. His elbow is cocked all the way to the side, his feet are pointed everywhere, his release takes forever, and his release point is not ideal either. All of this adds up to someone who has a ton of work to do on his jumpshot.
But, to be fair, he doesn't even need a jumpshot to be an all NBA player, as long as he has the right players around him. I don't want it to seem like I'm down on Zion because I am unspeakably excited for him to be here. He's the best prospect since AD and the most unique since LeBron (I see that comp, but I feel like comparing someone to LeBron is just unfair). He's physically impossible and has a sky high basketball IQ. And he cares. And he seems like a good kid. We could not ask for a better player to be coming here. All I'm saying is he's not perfect.
I’m not that hot on Barrett personally, but that is the route I see us taking.
1. He is a talented prospect coming in on a rookie deal
2. Bringing him in will make Zion happier
If we bring in Brown/Smart/Tatum, we will end up having to pay up sooner rather than later. With Knox, Robinson and Barrett we won’t have that problem for a while.
So, myths and their answers to clear up in any discussions on Zion moving forward:
1) He's short: maybe. He's listed at 6'7, which is undersized, but he looked clearly taller than also-6'7 RJ Barrett tonight. Don't be surprised if he ends up being 6'8 or 6'9 at the combine.
2) He's got a short wingspan: ESPN lists his wingspan at 6'11.5'', which is basically 7'0. That's longer than Lebron James. It's absolutely fine.
3) He can't shoot the three: His 3pt% for the first 12 games of his season was 17.6%, which is what dragged his overall number down. But for the last 20 games of the season (the larger sample size than 12, see) he shot 39.6% from deep. That doesn't mean he's a guaranteed sniper, but he has the potential to be a solid shooter.
I've personally been over that AD trade demand. If he didnt do that, the team would not be making the moves their making today. It's not like, he was wrong. And we got Zion as a reward for it.
AD is the best big man in the game, you don't trade him if you don't absolutely have to. I think AD wants to stay, considering Zion, the money and the fact that he has actually liked it here. He tried to recruit but the franchise was so poorly run, that nobody would come. Look at the Lakers right now.
We have to realize that Zion is not AD. AD, as much of a snake as he is, is an elite rim protector. Zion probably will be fine, but he will never reach AD's status as a defender.
If Griffin convinces AD to stay and sign an extension, I'll swallow my pride and welcome him back. But I ain't losing sleep if he decides to bolt. Either way, Pels win. We hold all the cards.
Depends what you mean, ''he will never reach AD's status as a defender.''
As a rim protector? Sure, he'll never be on AD's level, most likely. AD is one of the best rim protectors in the league, and debatably THE best.
Could Zion be a better perimeter defender? Sure, I think so. AD is a good perimeter defender, but he always had a bit of trouble guarding the super shifty one on one. Zion won't have that issue because he's got pretty good defensive quickness and can guard down to the PG spot without much issue.
But yeah, Zion is not AD. AD should have won the 2018 DPOY. Zion will probably not reach DPOY level.
He could be all-defense though, and that's good enough.
I will only stay a fan if AD goes. We need a complete fresh start. We need 2 top 5 picks and players. AD FORGET HIM. Did you people follow his circus act his comments during the season and during games when he said out. Do you know what grief he caused Gentry, his teammates and most importantly ownership and the fan base. I will never forgive him, Chris Paul, or any other prima donna for giving up on their teams and just wanting to buy a championship. Done with AD, period.
We can't keep AD, because we have to give him a SuperMax or walks for nothing. It is a death sentence.
Davis would have to sign day one of FA for me not to trade.....even then I would still trade. He will never be a leader. He will always be second fiddle but I also don't see Jrue taking over the team with AD here. Trade AD and Jrue is the perfect leader for the new young and talented team we will have. Whether it's Tatum and Brown or Knox and Ja....Jrue can lead dat.