Your 2 Cents: Just How High is Zion's Ceiling?

I know this is very early, but I'm curious on what you guys think Zion's ceiling is?

After watching numerous sports media talk about Zion, some believe he is the next Lebron, Barkley, etc. etc. While others believe that he will jus be a regular star/all-star, but not a superstar like A.D. was.

I've watched probably about 25 games that Zion played in college. I've looked at a lot of scouting reports, heard a lot of material. Watched probably another 3 or 4 hours of analysis video. When I watched the Duke games, I played probably over a hundred possessions back in a slow motion, again and again, and took literally thousands of words of notes on what I've seen.

Zion's potential is incredible. I don't think it's fair to compare him to someone like Lebron, not because he doesn't have that level of ability, but because Lebron's skillset is so particular. Zion's skillset is also very particular, but it's different.

I think his ceiling is a top 5 player of all time. I genuinely think that. He said in a pre-draft interview that his goals include rookie of the year, MVP, and DPOY. I think he has that potential, to win all of those awards. We're looking at a guy who could be 10+ time all-star in his career, multiple time MVP winner, and yes, DPOY.

I've seen his athleticism compared to the exact mid-way point between Shaq and prime D Rose, and that's pretty accurate, although his body mechanics and landing fundamentals are (thankfully) much better than Rose's.

Zion is what you get when you take the offensive game of Charles Barkley, the defensive game of Draymond Green, and stitch them together into a Frankenstein's monster of basketball.

Will he reach his full potential? That all depends on work ethic, and what environment is put around him. But if he puts in the work and effort, which I believe he will, we're looking at an all timer.

Modern day Karl Malone type... A truck doing 60mph

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

I've watched probably about 25 games that Zion played in college. I've looked at a lot of scouting reports, heard a lot of material. Watched probably another 3 or 4 hours of analysis video. When I watched the Duke games, I played probably over a hundred possessions back in a slow motion, again and again, and took literally thousands of words of notes on what I've seen.

Zion's potential is incredible. I don't think it's fair to compare him to someone like Lebron, not because he doesn't have that level of ability, but because Lebron's skillset is so particular. Zion's skillset is also very particular, but it's different.

I think his ceiling is a top 5 player of all time. I genuinely think that. He said in a pre-draft interview that his goals include rookie of the year, MVP, and DPOY. I think he has that potential, to win all of those awards. We're looking at a guy who could be 10+ time all-star in his career, multiple time MVP winner, and yes, DPOY.

I've seen his athleticism compared to the exact mid-way point between Shaq and prime D Rose, and that's pretty accurate, although his body mechanics and landing fundamentals are (thankfully) much better than Rose's.

Zion is what you get when you take the offensive game of Charles Barkley, the defensive game of Draymond Green, and stitch them together into a Frankenstein's monster of basketball.

Will he reach his full potential? That all depends on work ethic, and what environment is put around him. But if he puts in the work and effort, which I believe he will, we're looking at an all timer.

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My gawd, you just got me more excited than I was of A.D.

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Originally Posted by WhyHornetsWhy

My gawd, you just got me more excited than I was of A.D.

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Coming out of college, he is more exciting than AD.

When AD came out of college, we all knew he was going to be a great rebounder and a fantastic defender. That was obvious. But we never knew what kind of offensive game he would get: we obviously never knew he was going to be a 28ppg.

Zion coming out of college has just as much defensive promise as AD, but his offensive game is already there. There's more to develop, he needs to work on his outside shot and his free throws, but he can already put the ball on the floor, make his own shot, create for others, drive and kick, post up, do isolation work, everything. He's been called the most exciting rookie prospect since Lebron, and that's totally fair. He is the most exciting rookie prospect since Lebron.

Hm I like the comparison midpoint between Shaq(young) and DRoze for Zion athletically.

Zion isn't really the one step and I'm gone with the fluidity and body control of an LBJ it's a much more quick in tight spaces athleticism, shifty, splits doubles, absurd hopsteps and second jump. Really his ball handling and IQ is so much higher than youd think a 19 year old with his raw talent would be.

If he can further develop his perimeter game to the 3 point line and stepbacks are part of his game, the sky is the limit for him. He can be the GOAT. Really his ability to initiate offense from the perimeter is going to decide if he's a multiple time MVP or just a supercharged Larry Johnson with defense who breaks down as the athleticism dwindles. The middle ground is probably a 90% as freaky of Giannis type player

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Coming out of college, he is more exciting than AD.

When AD came out of college, we all knew he was going to be a great rebounder and a fantastic defender. That was obvious. But we never knew what kind of offensive game he would get: we obviously never knew he was going to be a 28ppg.

Zion coming out of college has just as much defensive promise as AD, but his offensive game is already there. There's more to develop, he needs to work on his outside shot and his free throws, but he can already put the ball on the floor, make his own shot, create for others, drive and kick, post up, do isolation work, everything. He's been called the most exciting rookie prospect since Lebron, and that's totally fair. He is the most exciting rookie prospect since Lebron.

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I mean respected coaches compared AD to Bill Russell. He had more defensive upside than anyone in history (ok maybe Hakeem had more). He hasn't lived up to it on that end and that's really his own fault. His offensive IQ is higher than his defensive IQ.

I haven't watched many games so far but yeah his potential is pretty crazy. I haven't seen many players do what he does plus his body type. Dude looks like Shaq/Lebron mutant baby some plays. If he reaches his potential it'll change this franchise forevaaaaa.

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Originally Posted by Pelifan

I mean respected coaches compared AD to Bill Russell. He had more defensive upside than anyone in history (ok maybe Hakeem had more). He hasn't lived up to it on that end and that's really his own fault. His offensive IQ is higher than his defensive IQ.

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It's crazy that AD is a multiple time all-defensive team member, and should have won the DPOY the year Gobert won it, and we still talk about him as a kind of let-down defensively. When he's really focused, he can defend like threes guys at once, it's nuts.

Like most great players that come along, there’s no direct comparisons for Zion. The closest, at least in my lifetime, is Charles Barkley. Zion is a bit bigger (and fitter) than a 19-year-old Barkley—The Round Mound tipped the scales at 300lbs at Auburn—but they share a similar incongruity of being massive, chunky guys who can nevertheless seemingly levitate in mid-air.

Barkley’s journey to greatness may be instructive for Zion. As a rookie Barkley, who mainly played center in college, was good not great averaging about 15 points and 10 boards per game. Frustrated, he sought advice from the 76ers veteran center and rebounding God, Moses Malone about what he needed to work on to improve. “Simple,” said Malone. “You’re too fat.” He advised Barkley to get down from his rookie playing weight of 285 to around 250. Barkley did and his game took off. Over his first few seasons Barkley added a perimeter jumper and became a stellar ball handler to go with his off the charts strength and athleticism. The combo made him a unique force in the league despite his unusual basketball make up and ended with him becoming a first-ballot Hall of Famer.