Does anyone think Zion is the best player on a championship team if healthy?

[P_B_&_G]

Hear me out. The hardest thing to find is that guy. That guy that can lead a team to a title. I think Zion is that guy if he can ever stay healthy. Griff apparently seems to think so as well. So that would lead to just hoping he can find a way to stay healthy long enough to prove it. If you go in knowing he will be in and out of the lineup throughout the season, how do you construct a roster that can hold it down enough to get into the playoffs with or without him? I think you need to probably move CJ to get under the tax line and try to get a high end backup power forward to take Zion's minutes when he's out. Continue with the rest of the roster as you see fit. But part of that is also resigning Ingram. Unless you can parlay BI and CJ into a really good forward that can play alongside Zion when he's healthy. Not sure who fits that description and might be available though.

[ml wave]

The Zion we've seen for 5+ years? Not at all. Anthony Davis can't be the best player on a championship team and I'm hard pressed to think of one thing on the basketball court Zion does better than AD (get to the rim off the dribble I guess, but he's getting worse at scoring once he gets there). In order to get to level you're talking about, he'd have to continue/improve the defensive effort he showed last year post-All Star break and also greatly expand his offensive repertoire (notice how he's getting less and less effective offensively each year?). Compare him to Giannis, because their offensive games aren't totally dissimilar and Giannis obviously can be the best player on a championship team...and let's pretend that he can magically improve offensively to match Giannis, does Zion offer even half the defensive impact of Giannis? Rim protection, rebounding, etc.? Teams target Zion in the PnR and they avoid Giannis. He's not even close to being the best player on a championship team and it seems much more likely that his game is getting worse rather than improving, even if healthy.

[Darkhorse985]

Hear me out. The hardest thing to find is that guy. That guy that can lead a team to a title. I think Zion is that guy if he can ever stay healthy. Griff apparently seems to think so as well. So that would lead to just hoping he can find a way to stay healthy long enough to prove it. If you go in knowing he will be in and out of the lineup throughout the season, how do you construct a roster that can hold it down enough to get into the playoffs with or without him? I think you need to probably move CJ to get under the tax line and try to get a high end backup power forward to take Zion's minutes when he's out. Continue with the rest of the roster as you see fit. But part of that is also resigning Ingram. Unless you can parlay BI and CJ into a really good forward that can play alongside Zion when he's healthy. Not sure who fits that description and might be available though.

Whisper Zach Lavine… a 6’ 5’’ athletic shooting guard who can both shoot the 3 and finish at the rim with power unlike CJ McCullum. He isn’t good defensively but neither is CJ. Starting 5 Murray, Lavine, Murphy, Zion/Jones, Missi.

[Darkhorse985]

The Zion we've seen for 5+ years? Not at all. Anthony Davis can't be the best player on a championship team and I'm hard pressed to think of one thing on the basketball court Zion does better than AD (get to the rim off the dribble I guess, but he's getting worse at scoring once he gets there). In order to get to level you're talking about, he'd have to continue/improve the defensive effort he showed last year post-All Star break and also greatly expand his offensive repertoire (notice how he's getting less and less effective offensively each year?). Compare him to Giannis, because their offensive games aren't totally dissimilar and Giannis obviously can be the best player on a championship team...and let's pretend that he can magically improve offensively to match Giannis, does Zion offer even half the defensive impact of Giannis? Rim protection, rebounding, etc.? Teams target Zion in the PnR and they avoid Giannis. He's not even close to being the best player on a championship team and it seems much more likely that his game is getting worse rather than improving, even if healthy.

This is unfortunately spot on. Unfortunately we are tied to Zion as the focal point until his trade value improves, and even if it does, no one is giving an all star caliber player to replace him. Trading him means rebuilding.

[P_B_&_G]

Whisper Zach Lavine… a 6’ 5’’ athletic shooting guard who can both shoot the 3 and finish at the rim with power unlike CJ McCullum. He isn’t good defensively but neither is CJ. Starting 5 Murray, Lavine, Murphy, Zion/Jones, Missi.

I like this idea, CJ for Lavine and whatever. Maybe Ingram too. At this point we have to try something different.

[P_B_&_G]

This is unfortunately spot on. Unfortunately we are tied to Zion as the focal point until his trade value improves, and even if it does, no one is giving an all star caliber player to replace him. Trading him means rebuilding.

I agree nothing is happening with Zion for a couple years at minimum.

[JJackisangry]

This version of Zion no. He showed promise. He has showed signs. But if he can't string healthy and consistency together, you can't rely on him. He needed to develop areas of his game. He showed flashes then gets injured. He comes back and the improvements are gone. It's not an easy situation to diagnose. I can't explain why he regresses.