2021 NBA Offseason Thread

[cavsfever]

I feel like Zion is about to prove a lot of people wrong....If I had to bet, I would bet that this guy is going to take over the league, this shit looks too easy to him. This is not a hot take, this is basically what everyone thought before the draft.

I don't know how many conclusions people should be drawing off that one game. Most of his scoring in that game was off those four three-pointers, and I don't think he's going to be shooting 100% on 3s this season. He wasn't really being guarded, people weren't taking him seriously as a 3-point threat, and those line drive style jumpers he was shooting could be blocked. He is only 6'7 or 6'8 so he doesn't have the ability of a Durant to just shoot over people.

 

[billmac91]

I feel like Zion is about to prove a lot of people wrong. His hype was out of control to start to the season, but him missing all of this time and hearing all of the talk, I'm guessing, has had an impact on him. It's like he's almost under-rated at this point. I'm pretty sure he's aware of everyone's concern for his weight, but he's big naturally, I don't think he's an uncontrollable eater or lazy or anything like that. He seems naturally big, I think his body can handle his natural state, plus I'm pretty sure he's going to work hard, doesn't seem like that much of an issue to me. I think his "weight" issue is overblown already, over-reaction generation doing work early. If I had to bet, I would bet that this guy is going to take over the league, this shit looks too easy to him. This is not a hot take, this is basically what everyone thought before the draft.

He’s naturally big but that doesn’t mean his ligaments and tendons are naturally more inclined to sustain.

Blake Griffin is lean, and his ACL couldn’t handle it.

Derrick Rose was a PG, and his knee ligaments couldn’t handle it.

I don’t see Zion’s ligaments/tendons holding up. The human body isn’t built to sustain that type of weight explosion. I’m not rooting for it, but I think he’s a ticking time bomb. Probably the best athlete I’ve ever seen.

I agree, for sustained length of career, football probably would’ve been a better career path, but whatever we get out of him in NBA will be electric. Hope he stays healthy and proves me wrong......

I tend to think if the Pelicans could do a “re-draft” Morant goes #1 based on the medical issues they’ve already identified.

 

[Pioneer10]

Can't really believe anyone would think that the other Duke guys were going to be better pros then Zion, lol.

 

[Derek]

Can't really believe anyone would think that the other Duke guys were going to be better pros then Zion, lol.

Cam Reddish baby

 

[billmac91]

Can't really believe anyone would think that the other Duke guys were going to be better pros then Zion, lol.

I argued with my buddies prior to draft that I’d have taken RJ Barrett #1 knowing Zion would be a massive injury risk.

After missing the first 44 games, some of them have come to agree with me.

I don’t see Zion ever averaging 30 mins a game while also being load managed in “back to backs”. I’m not sure that’s sustainable long term if the Pelicans have championship aspirations. Going to be weird watching a top 3 talent, minimized to 25-27 mins a night.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

I argued with my buddies prior to draft that I’d have taken RJ Barrett #1 knowing Zion would be a massive injury risk.

After missing the first 44 games, some of them have come to agree with me.

I don’t see Zion ever averaging 30 mins a game while also being load managed in “back to backs”. I’m not sure that’s sustainable long term if the Pelicans have championship aspirations. Going to be weird watching a top 3 talent, minimized to 25-27 mins a night.

RJ sucks .
1 great year out of Zion is better than 15 of RJ.

 

[Rich]

Utah baby. Gobert is playing like an animal and theyre starting to maul teams. Theyre now the two seed.

And in an age where there is no Durant on GS they can absolutely make a Finals.

 

[Pioneer10]

I argued with my buddies prior to draft that I’d have taken RJ Barrett #1 knowing Zion would be a massive injury risk.

After missing the first 44 games, some of them have come to agree with me.

I don’t see Zion ever averaging 30 mins a game while also being load managed in “back to backs”. I’m not sure that’s sustainable long term if the Pelicans have championship aspirations. Going to be weird watching a top 3 talent, minimized to 25-27 mins a night.

They're no back to back in the playoffs and he's a generational (Luka/Lebron) level talent. This is like the NFL when you got a good QB on the rookie contract you go for it.

In other words Zion for a 1/2 season is better then full seasons of Barrett and Reddish combined

 

[Derek]

Utah baby. Gobert is playing like an animal and theyre starting to maul teams. Theyre now the two seed.

And in an age where there is no Durant on GS they can absolutely make a Finals.

They were my dark horse pick before the year

 

[LeeBuckeye]

No amount of CTE is worth it. If you're an athlete insisting on pursuing a pro football career, you should retire as soon as you think you have enough money to live comfortably for the rest of your life.

Look no further than Antonio Brown and what he's currently experiencing around the time the Aaron Hernendez documentary came out (they attempted to minimize the brain damage when talking about motives during the trial and the documentary itself IMO).

 

[billmac91]

Utah baby. Gobert is playing like an animal and theyre starting to maul teams. Theyre now the two seed.

And in an age where there is no Durant on GS they can absolutely make a Finals.

Largely without Mike Conley as well....not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. Mike has struggled to fit in, and while he’s been injured they’ve played some of their best ball.

Now he comes back, and they’re going to have to integrate him again.

In his absence, Mitchell and Ingles controlled the ball a lot more. Will be curious to see how Utah makes it all work down the stretch.

Rudy Gobert is probably the most underrated player in NBA though. Guy effects everything on the court.

 

[Lee]

Depends on how long he lasts in the NBA. Not about knee pressure. His knees will legit fail him at some point. He's just too big for his knees not to get destroyed. Its a shame because his talent level is unreal. But when your 6-6 280 to 290 putting that kinda work load on your knees. It's not gonna end well for him.

You might be right, but they said the same about Lebron at 6'8 270lbs

 

[LeeBuckeye]

For Utah to be doing this well with Mike Conley out and Ed Davis being so awful is pretty remarkable.

You might be right, but they said the same about Lebron at 6'8 270lbs

LeBron was 240 his rookie season and he carried his 270-280 frame much differently than Zion. What worries me is his gait which is giving me Oden vibes. Either way Zion is already a top 5 player to watch from an entertainment standpoint and the buzz in the arena last night was amazing to see.

 

[Nathan S]

Kinda wild that Gobert may miss out on the All-Star game again this year. You could make a strong case that he should be starting.

 

[MediumBaller]

You might be right, but they said the same about Lebron at 6'8 270lbs

LeBron wasn't 270 when he first came into the league. Zion is listed at 285, but I really doubt he weighs 285. He was listed at 285 at Duke and he looks much bigger now. I would bet he's 300+ at the moment. He's also only 19 years old so it'll be a battle for him to not gain more weight going forward.