Jalen Rose on Zion

Jalen Rose just had a great segment on Zion making some great points on how he fits in the NBA and the Pelicans along with our current system. He started off with how much Zion in college put up as a Freshman having historic numbers with the best PER ever while averaging 23ppg/9rpg with an incredible best ever 68% from FG along with a very respectable 34% from 3pt for someone who never had to shoot or practice until at Duke.
He then stated another player who averaged 21ppg/9rpg with a very solid 52% FG and 34% 3pt but in the NBA whose name was Julius Randle. So Rose talked how Zion already has a path in a sense paved for him to flourish with Gentry having an idea of what spots to put him in as he tweaks/rebuilds his offense around Zion. He is similar to Randle in many ways but as Rose said just on a completely different talent level from athleticism along with a far more developed and polished set of skills at just 18 y/o. Another huge trait he mentioned was Zions defensive versatility which right now is a ? with some saying tweener but Rose believes he will be a weapon on that side as well with his versatility having no problem locking up the NBAs best wings while being able to bang with many bigs do to his strength and length. He stated if he is a has a mismatch on one end against him like a Steven Adams in a small ball lineup you can bet the mismatch on the other end makes it level out in our favor.
Zion can already shoot 3s and pass and where as Randle just started making huge steps in these areas at age 23-24 still young but not an 18 year old kid. Another thing Rose mentioned was Randle is left handed and so is Zion which is something that can be very different and Gentry has had time to adjust to this having Randle for a season. Of course he thinks Zion will be responsible for more then Randle but sees a similar role as Randle who was kind of thrust into a featured role do to injuries, youth, and AD being a ...
I can see Zion having a similar season statistically with much better defense then Randle and if we get that we should all be ecstatkc because that’s an all star player in the NBA. I believe he’s going to light it up beyond that but wanna lower my expectations a little..
Ultimately I see Zions shot from mid range and deep being very similar to Kawhi Leonard along with a similar defensive ability and versatility just on positions 2-5 and not 1-4 and of course their own uniqueness all NBA stars have with Zion being potentially an elite threat in the post. This kid is going to be a great all around player.