TANK FOR ZION

-

Image result for knicks logoWhat every team does have on their radar is the superstar in the making "Zion Williamson." The kid is a stud at 6'7" and 285 lbs he's set to dominate grown men in the NBA. Once he gets to the NBA, he would be the second heaviest player trailing behind 7'3" Boban Marjonovic by only 5 pounds. To top it all off, Zion can jump out the building. His max vertical leap is 46" which is incredible for someone at his weight. It's clear that Zion has dominated in NCAA basketball, winning the Wooden Award which is given to the most outstanding basketball player. Not to mention that he won this as a freshman, which puts him in great company with other NBA players who also won the award as a freshman. These NBA players are superstars: Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis. The hype for Zion is insane, but there's one thing scaring the people and NBA organizations. Zion didn't officially declare for the NBA draft.


Image result for duke zion
Illustration by: Elias Stein
The New York Knicks are an NBA team focused on making big moves this summer. They have traded away their franchise player in Kristaps Porzingis in hopes of making a splash in free agency. The team missed the playoffs by a huge margin, having the worst record in the entire NBA. On the bright side, this is exactly what they wanted. The Knickerbockers share a 14% chance of landing the first overall pick with two other NBA teams which would be the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Phoenix Suns. The rest of the teams also have a chance at the first overall pick, but it's so unlikely that it wouldn't happen without a miracle.

In order to play through the NBA, players traditionally go to college, finish the year, then declare for the draft. Zion did all that except declare for the draft. The scary thing for the Knicks is that if Zion doesn't declare for the draft, then it would ruin their entire game plan. It's not only the Knicks either, every team is praying to land that first pick to draft Zion. What if he wasn't there to draft? There would be no doubt that he would be chosen first overall, so why would he stay? Zion's college team, the Duke Blue Devils fell short of their goal. They were a powerhouse stacked with big name players who were guaranteed at making it to the NBA. Most people were set on them winning it all, but they didn't. They got defeated right before making it to the Final Four, leaving the players, teams, fans, and the entire internet in shock.

Zion's goal may be to win the NCAA Championship before heading off to the NBA. He could also be toying with the press and skipping the lingering question knowing very well that he will eventually declare for the draft. Nobody knows, except for him. What the Knicks know though, is that they've spent a whole year getting to this point, and if they don't get Zion, then they are in big trouble.

Comments

  1. JustinMay 28, 2019 at 11:10 AM

    Since it's the end of May, this whole situation had played out already. Zion ended up declaring although the Knicks fell to the third pick, which makes it unlikely that they will be able to draft them. I agree that Zion is an upcoming dominant force going into the NBA, although I don't know how he will hold up against the professionals. Regardless, I've watched him play in the NCAA and I know the kind of generational athleticism he has, which will no doubt translate to the NBA. His immense strength however, might be contained by some of the NBA big men. At the end of the day, I am rooting for the Duke product, and can't wait to see him play in October.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJune 2, 2019 at 10:41 AM

    Basketball is a sport that I love to watch and occasionally play. I only gained an interest in basketball recently (the past year or so). Since then I have been more upto date with basketball news and have heard of Zion quite a bit. Zion's overall highlights and build "6'7 and 285 pounds" is incredible and surely in his prime to be drafted. I found your post to be informing to me as a new fan towards basketball (at a lower level then the NBA) as new talents are always interesting to compare to existing talents to that of (for example) Lebron James, arguably one of the best (or the best) basketball players of all time. Lebron is smaller than Zion as Lebron stands at around 260pounds and 6'65. Additionally, the hype behind new upcoming players and their comparisons to existing players is interesting when you hear the casters and other sports media debating on the topic of players like LiAngelo and Lamelo ball specifically. Your post mentioned that the Knicks specifically are looking to pickup Zion in the draft, however to my eyes I think based on Zion's ability and how he has proved to live up to his hype, the Knicks are in no way his first choice when it comes to being apart of the NBA. I could see him playing and wanting to play with that of the Cleveland Cavaliers or possibly the Bucks as he would increase there already stacked big man team with Giannis.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJune 2, 2019 at 10:41 AM

    ^ - Braeden Khargie (ASM201-01, Molloy #63)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lit Clothing and Mixed Reactions ft. Nike

-
Image
Sean Clancy (@sclancy79) on Twitter Nike is getting mixed reactions from their 30th anniversary ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick. There are people that love it, and others that hate it, vowing to boycott their products and burning every Nike product they have. I see the burning of Nike attire as something useless because they already paid for the product and they’re not getting anything in return, except for some attention on social media. While some people have believed that this was the start of Nike’s downfall, and expected continuous bashing and boycotting from many people, it didn’t happen. Trump even took the time to comment on the situation on Twitter saying, “What was Nike thinking.” As time passed by, I can conclude that Nike has indeed put a lot of thought into this as their sales and stock prices have increased greatly. Even though the campaign is about racial injustice, I believe that it isn’t the biggest reason as to why they released an ad with Colin Kaepernick....
Read more