On today's This Just In on ESPN, @_Andrew_Lopez told @maxkellerman that it is "highly unlikely we see Zion Williamson in this Pelicans-Suns first-round series. pic.twitter.com/XzTpHS9AMO
— Oleh Kosel 🇺🇦 (@OlehKosel) April 22, 2022
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On today's This Just In on ESPN, @_Andrew_Lopez told @maxkellerman that it is "highly unlikely we see Zion Williamson in this Pelicans-Suns first-round series. pic.twitter.com/XzTpHS9AMO
— Oleh Kosel 🇺🇦 (@OlehKosel) April 22, 2022
That's extremely unfortunate if that's accurate. That'd better be accurate, though. If the team is saying, "He's not healed," but Zion is saying, "I'm healed," we're looking at problems.
You think they would let him play 5-on-5 if the bone wasnt healed? Explain that logic.
Like, do you think a guy whose strained hamstring is mostly back plays 5 on 5? Or partially torn ACL plays 5 on 5?
If the bone wasnt healed, he wouldnt be playing 5-on-5, even if it were with 2nd graders. But again, they gotta push forward stuff like this now that they simply cant run the clock out like they planned to
@mcnamara247
Zion isn't in game shape. That foot is healed. It's been since July/August from the initial surgery. December from the bone treatment.
If Zion's foot was still having issues. Zion camp would of concede and got that 2nd surgery.
Just my opinion but to me it looks like Griff is protecting his trade chip and don't want Zion to go out and kill his trade value.
All this is doing is p!ssing off Zion's camp even more to force a trade, and I'm sure Griff sees how the team is playing WITHOUT Zion... would rather remove that cloud for over the organization.
As much as I would love to mix Zion in with what we've got... I would also welcome a trade and get a war chest of assets to add to what we are building.
Either way I'm ready for it.
Lets say him playing 5 games well gets you 90 value
Him not playing at all gets you 80 value
Him getting hurt again knocks his value down to 50
Now, simple risk vs. reward....its clearly better not to play him. Besides, even if he plays, teams will still want their own doctors to look at him. Something that can happen during summer league/other parts of the offseason. If Pels are transparent with medical info, Zion and his team agree to meet with other teams doctors (they would for some teams), you could possibly get close to full value for him. Especially if multiple teams were interested and bidding.
I think it's obvious.
They will max him and trade him as soon as they can.
It would suggest that Zion doesn't fit this teams culture.
I guess they are going to build around BI.
There is nobody in this forum (or Airline Drive, for that matter) that really knows what the effect would be by integrating ZW into the team at this late date. Everybody seems to believe that it would be a simple, seamless transition. I don't buy this proposition at all. The current team ('Zion-less') has been through an 82-game campaign together that brings them to this point in time where the fruit of their labor has resulted a remarkable turn-around, and a team that is in-sync, both on the court and in the locker room (Zion hasn't even been with the team for much of the year).
To just casually say, "JAX, you are losing most of your minutes for Zion's sake...BI, CJ, we're taking the ball out of your hands a little more tonight...Trey, Larry, one of you may not get minutes tonight; we'll see...Naji, you're going to sit this one out." is just foolhardy and just plain dumb. In a vacuum, it may be the thing to do, but it is so short-sighted to deny that it places the long-term 'psyche' of the team at risk. And, that's more important to me than ZW.
Look at it this way:
Zion is a guy who has, as of yet, even taken a practice floor with this 21-22 team and, somehow, some of us expect us to just throw him into a game. It's like a high schooler with a 4.0+ GPA transferring into a new, high-achieving school late in the last semester of his/her senior year and being given the Valedictorian Award for that year over someone who has competed in that high school the whole time.
Give him the four additional months to get ready for next year and let this team continue to play and surprise. Let each year stand on it's own merit.
Last edited by As I See It; 04-22-2022 at 05:13 PM.
Nobody thinks it would be simple and seamless if he were put back to the top of the rotation. That would take some time. 15-20 mins, in which you are taking those mins from guys who havent been playing well. With those mins mostly coming against backups/staggered units, etc... that is a totally different thing. And you know who would be most supportive of that? Guys like Naji and Jaxson, etc.
Let me ask you this, would you be more or less afraid of the Suns if the NBA said, "We decided to allow Darius Garland to play 15-20 mins off the bench for them starting Game 3"?
More, of course. And that guy has never even practiced with those guys. You think Landry Shamit would be furious and it would destroy the locker room?
You are WAY overthinking this IMO.
imo the guys who got us to this point earn all of the credit...they earned their way into the play-in and won....they earned their way into the playoffs and won a game...these guys achieved what majority of the fans and media didnt think they could do it.....imo the players on the team who got us to this point has earned the right to see this thing through ..win or loose...
Where is that line drawn? I mean, Nance really didn’t do anything in the regular season to help this team get here. Didn’t play in like the first 70 games for this team. Should he not have been able to take some of Willys minutes? Is Willy throwing a fit now that he isn’t playing and Nance has his minutes and team is better?
Way, way too much overthinking going on here IMO
i get it..people want zion....you want ,what you want....
my thing is he has not played in the regular season.....nance came on late in the regular season and contribute to the team getting into the play-in....myself,im totally fine and happy with watching and cheering for all of the guys who played in the regular season and i believed they earned the right to see this out...win or loose with zion ....
So, the arbitrary line is the "regular season"? If a guy misses the first 73 games for the team, you can insert him and take minutes from the guys who got you there. But not 82 games or 84. Then, it is not fair to those guys.
Do you see the arbitrariness of that, or no?
You play the guys who give you the best chance to win and NBA players are adults, they know that. Naji Marshall would be jumping out of his seat watching Zion dominate in the 15 mins, even if that meant Naji got none. How about this....put it to a secret vote with the players. I bet the tally is 14-0, yes let him play
for me...this is my thing...this is about my happiness.....if BI was out for the year and zion was healthy and we were in this same spot..i would say the same thing about BI...
i had a convo with you in the past telling you that im a different kat than majority of yall on here....i told you in the past that i would be content with the pelicans making the 8th seed of the playoffs for 10 years in a row ,,now that was before the play-in so now my goals have to go up to the 6 seed... my thing is, i just want to go to playoffs games and that would be a good season for me.....if we ever win a title, i would be happy but if it never happens then im good with that also......its about me enjoy myself and what i want to see to enjoy.....
I agree with this assessment. He hasn't practiced against his teammates. He isn't going to be in game shape. He likely doesn't know a lot of the plays on offense or switches on defense. He was a defensive liability when he was healthy. Why put him in the lineup now when every minute matters in the playoffs and every mistake is magnified? Ride with the horses that brought us.
Can someone explain why Griff doesn’t want to play Zion?
I will gladly sacrifice ever last one of DG’s mins to let Zion play. What, is Zion not going to be able to replicate what DG does?
If you Jimmer it, they will come.
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