- cross-posted to:
- nba@nba.space
- cross-posted to:
- nba@nba.space
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Dude is out of breath in a press conference. I don’t think this is the star we want to blow our load on. I could see his career falling apart OR I can see 20 games from now he’s completely untouchable and balling out.
The question I have been asking myself is how much better this team actually gets with Zion vs Julius in today’s NBA? Would the team’s style benefit overall from the swap? With this Harden and Clippers fiasco going on, it makes me think about the prioritization of roster construction while moving for star players. I have no issue saying Zion is better than Julius, the matchup proved it. Is Zion better for the Knicks current roster construction? I honestly think they have a lot of the same issues as players but Julius can shoot. The Knicks would absolutely need to move on from Mitch for a stretch 5. Getting Zion would mean a more congested paint for Brunson and RJ(assuming he’s not apart of the deal) without another shooter on the floor. It puts an immense amount of pressure on Grimes RJ and JHart to be a knockdown shooters so the offense can function. Mitch would be a less effective Offensive rebounder with less spacing. Zion needs the roster to be built around him and I don’t think the roster, as it stands is anywhere close. The Knicks have shown so much patience since Leon took over. The assets they’ve collected aren’t deteriorating in value either. Patience for the right player should continue to be the priority.
Good analysis. My only quibble would be judging Zion to be better than Randle based on the back half of a back to back this season when Randle was clearly in a slump. He may be but , even with that game, Randle has won 2 of their 3 meetings and has averaged 25 ppg (vs 27.7) and averaged a rebound more per game, 6.3
assists vs 4.7 and 1.7 steals vs. 1.3.https://www.landofbasketball.com/games_between/julius_randle_vs_zion_williamson.htm
Zion is a freak of nature but being a better basketball player means contributing to winning, which, for all the talk of Randle’s empty stats, he has in NYC. Meanwhile, with a healthy Zion and BI, NO has a losing record and has lost 5 in a row.
I think the idea of Zion is better than the reality. He’s not shown me he’s a franchise guy. Yes, he played well against the Knicks at home where the Knicks were coming off a B2B and wher Randle, Brunson and Barrett were a combined 15 for 45.
But he’s playing on a team with BI, who many would say is better than anyone on the Knicks, and with a center who averaged 14.1 ppg and 10.2 Rebounds and for his career has averaged 13.5 and 9.5 so it’s not a fluke, and his team has lost 5 straight games and has a losing record for the season.
And this is with him healthy.