7 years ago, Pelicans ticket office went wild after winning the #1 lottery pick. 7 years later, Zion Williamson has yet to make a playoff debut.
Can’t shit on the Pels FO – Zion’s hype was insane.
Shit i’m pretty sure nobody expected this to happen. A lot of us thought Pels will make it deep to the playoffs around his early years. They had a deep team (1st seed Pels roster was stacked af), and then it all went down after he got injured.
And then it went into the underbelly when they hired Dumars lol
We hired dumars as a result of going underbelly. We were promising with Willie for his first few seasons. Won 49 games in 2023-2024 and wasn’t good enough for a top 6 seed.
Zion got hurt in the play in, if not for that he would at least have one series (loss) under his belt. Hiring dumars was a bad decision on top of previous bad decisions lol
JJ Redick signed with them and at that point he hasn’t missed the playoffs in his career, told Zion not to fuck it up for him at the introductory press conference. They indeed fucked it up for him.
It’s been a conversation since his Duke days. He generates so much power from his size and style of play. He jumps a lot and comes down with a lot of force. It has always been a question of when for Zion. Even his Duke injury where he popped out of his shoe, there was a conversation about how much power he puts into his step and turns. I was definitely on the “Let’s enjoy him while we can” camp because there’s no outrunning the limits of the human body.
Unless you’re LeBron. But I’m starting to believe he is a cyborg.
Seems like the exact conversation/career arc so far around Wemby is what people expected from Zion 5 years ago.
Truth is, Zion is a special player. He’s just injury prone.
A lot of people absolutely called out his eating and weight heading into the draft. Saying that no one expected this to happen is insane as I’m pretty sure almost everything I remember him being considered insanely talented but will he stay healthy.
I mean, the fact that they allegedly made him sit out when healthy twice, so they could try to tank, and the fact that they haven’t been able to build a decent team around him that can play winning basketball when he’s not on the court, is plenty of reason to shit on them, just not for their decision to draft him.
They put together a team that made the playoffs twice despite him.
“The fact that they allegedly” - this doesn’t make sense. It’s not a fact if it’s just alleged.
that’s what I meant
This is also the ticket sales people, they were probably stoked to easily smash their quotas
Yeah. Makes your job a lot easier when you can quit cold calling and just make sales all day.
Is player development, and team doctors a part of the front office?
meant just drafting
Pels player development was pretty good
You can, just not for being excited about Zion
Yes but I feel better as a Hornets fan that I didn’t have to become bitterly disappointed by drafting him lol.
If we had drafted Zion I’d been buying season tickets
Those were the days. Knicks fans thought they were getting Zion, KD and Kyrie.
Aka Fatty, Catty and Batty
i laughed.
Nicely done
I agree, go Cavs
Can’t win with those meow meows
Oh my.
Those are their Dolan file profile names.
The three musky rears
Little did we know we dodged three nuclear warheads
That would have been the worst Knicks timeline fs
While RJ and Randle became key pieces we flipped to get us to the championship.
Never ever ever forget new york fans went insane at missing out on everything, & having to settle for julius randle.
Well, randle become the center piece of a trade to bring in KAT, the rest is history.
Bonus fact, GTAlverado got scooped up from the pelicans bullshit & brought to his home of NYC to become an NBA champion.
And the brooklyn nets have not recovered from giving up 3 first round picks, 4 first round swaps, and jarret allen all to bring a fat bearded man that they would then trade for…. Ben Simmons.
At that time, Julius Randle had zero All-Star and All-NBA selections. Meanwhile, the Nets got Kyrie and KD, the Clippers got PG and Kawhi, the Lakers got AD, and the Heat got Butler. It looked like even the Celtics had a better offseason because they got Kemba Walker.
Imagine if a team was hyped to get Giannis and Tyrese Maxey, but they get just Paolo Banchero or Jalen Johnson.
Disrespectful to Jalen Johnson.
Remember when Dyson Daniels said they’re cursed and that “every year there’s something new. I’m happy I’m not there any more”
2026 nba champions. While Zion is a champion at Carl Jr’s
and jarret allen
It always burned me up that it felt like the Cavs swept in and scooped Allen for nothing (Exum and a bad FRP).
Imagine telling Knicks fans 7 years ago that a bench guard from Dallas will lead them to championship
The Knicks are better off that it didn’t happen.
no kiddin
though Zion as the second coming of Larry Johnson would have been fun, and who knows if he would have had the same problems
Lmao I totally forgot about that
Yo KD…
Then KD said no one really cares about MSG and playing there anymore.
Now we can thank him for choosing Brooklyn and dissing us, cause I doubt we win if he came to NY. If anything, he’d have set this path back even further if not disrupted it all together.
I remember those days of delusion.
Turns out we didn’t need them
Injuries and his lack of discipline (gaining weight, being out of shape which leads to injuries) is the reason he failed. But yeah ceiling wise. He’s crazy
We’re still talking about “ceiling” for a player going on 8 years in the NBA? Is your development supposed to start at year 8 lmao?
That’s what happens with generational busts usually.
The fact that he’s still considered an “unknown” to a lot of people is astonishing to me though.
Generational busts are not talked about their ceilings 7 years later.
Nobody was talking about Thabeet’s ceiling in 2016, Bennett’s ceiling in 2020. Generational busts are not unknown, the ship sails way faster.
Zion is an unknown because he has shown glisses of the pick being vindicated
Is he really a “generational bust” like Thabeet and Bennett? Disappointing for sure, but Zion contributed more in his rookie season playing just 24 games than both those players combined across their careers.
I think Joe Smith is a better comp, not a bad player but failed to meet the expectations and hype. Zion will likely have a similar career when all is said and done.
Reread their comment lol
I think you have to consider what was expected out of the player. Obviously, Hasheem Thabeet ended up being mostly useless, same with Bennett, but I don’t think anyone was expecting them to be generational talents.
Thabeet’s ceiling was nowhere near what Zion’s was. Zion was supposed to be the Next Big Star. Thabeet’s ceiling was All-Defensive Team. I don’t even know what Bennett’s ceiling was supposed to be, that pick is still perplexing to me. Bennett probably could be considered a generational bust considering where he was drafted, but Thabeet is just a plain, old bust.
He was already playing at a superstar level in stretches already. When healthy. His ceiling is just staying healthy.
It isn’t even ceiling because he is legit when he is out there. The question is will he be out there though.
He’s still a ridiculously good scorer when he plays.
63 games with 21/6/3 on 60% shooting is star-level good, his stats would definitely look even more insane if he got up to the point of going from 28m~ to 35m~ a game and taking more shots again.
Whether it proves to be true or not, I think there’s probably still a thought/hope for some franchises that their FO/Coaching staff/Environment/whatever else can do better then the Pelicans in unlocking him.
Not exactly the same situations but late development wise, KAT is a decent example imo of a really good talent that wasn’t really developing on the Wolves to the point they had to go out and bring in Gobert cause his defense sucked so bad for a Center, then suddenly he becomes a defensive anchor on the Knicks.
Trust the process.
…. sorry, wrong team
Why? What in his game makes you think his ceiling is high?
His ability to attack and finish in the paint
Isn’t he one of the most efficient paint scorers of all time?
He’s unstoppable inside and reliably has great statistical production, but is hampered by injuries.
He has such a gentle touch around the rim and its crazy cause he was hyped in large part due to his explosiveness / dunks.
That first part of the sentence belongs to erotic books.
Gentle touch with his ability to spin the ball off any angle of the backboard while hanging in the air.
Exactly, absolutely massive ceiling, with zero floor
He was insane at Duke
And now he’s best known for busting out of a shoe
more like busting everywhere else
ayo
That ship has sailed, he will never be 19 again and he is physically not that guy now
He was balling this season when healthy
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He still performs at a level where a number 1 pick is expected to play. It’s just that this mans seems to get injured near the end of the regular season / is set back by recurring injuries he picks up from all that weight he has. Bro still kinda plays into shape this far into his career.
Wym… he’s one of the best downhill players ever with a generational second jump and touch around the rim
He has one of the most efficient volume scoring seasons ever, 27.1 ppg on 64.9% true shooting, in his second season in the league. He’s also a pretty good playmaker.
So his ceiling was a hyper-efficient scorer and playmaker who was athletic enough to be a plus defender.
Even now his ability to score at the rim causes teams to almost entirely focus on him when he’s on the floor, massively packing the paint and creating tons of space.
Admittedly, I haven’t checked his stats from the last 2 years. I’m guessing they’ve dipped after even more injuries.
But when healthy early in his career, he was a historical outlier in terms of volume and efficiency scoring at the rim. He was putting up rim scoring numbers better than prime Giannis and Shaq. That alone was enough to believe his high ceiling even if you factor in all of the other limitations in his game.
He had some crazy stats when healthy in the NBA while only being somewhat in shape and being super young.
He has at least 5 games a year where he looks like his potential. And one of them is always against the Wolves.
That 2019 NBA Draft lowkey kinda cursed (thanks, Danhausen!).
The lottery picks alone went off the rails – Zion, Ja, Culver, Reddish, Langford
Zion and Ja were supposed to lead the NBA (and Team USA) into the post LeBron era. Instead, LeBron is still playing great, while Zion and Ja are known more for controversies outside basketball.
Funny how Barrett is the only one that never really fell off despite being criticized alot in his time in NY. And not only that he’s technically contributed to the Knicks championship with the Anunoby trade
RJ has been consistently good, but not great, through his whole career, and there’s a lot of value in that. Has been consistently hanging right around 20 ppg for the last 7 seasons. Most of the criticism was revolved around him not being a true superstar player, but he’s panned out to be more valuable than the majority of that draft class
Another underrated value in RJ is that not only is his scoring super consistent (with no plays drawn for him), it’s that he constantly pressures the rim. He stayed consistent through the playoffs too.
There are so many players/teams in the league where you think “why don’t they drive more?”. RJ solves that more-or-less singlehandedly for the team.
He’s objectively the best player from the top 3 that year. Fuckin crazy. That’s my jacked prince 💗
Objectively he’s just the best player overall in the draft. Everyone else is either a potential man (either injuries or off the court shenanigans) or just couldnt stay consistent/or deliver. Seriously he’s THE top scorer in that class.
Dudes been consistently averaging 20/5/5 on solid TS% but he’s just not that guy. Idk how I feel about it as a Canadian.
Still reeling over Langford. Dude wasnt the same after his wrist injury. He’s the sole reason I became a Celtics fan.
How have they not put this guy on a GLp-1 already??
word it that it can cause bone deterioration, a dietician should be able to get his fat ass in shape.
If you think the long term side effects of GLP1 are bad, just wait until you see the long term side effects of obesity.
Dude is huge now, I can’t imagine him once he stops playing basketball. He’ll balloon to 300+ lbs easily
He was pretty slim last year, and the same trainer that got him this way has been posted updates honestly too often.
Like I saw him skinny already, I saw him come back from injury for the first time ever, I don’t need 7 posts this early in the off season. Keep it quiet and let me seem him hoop. He was in the best shape every this past season, but spent most of his time off ball and wasn’t the same dude. The scouting report is out. Insane at the rim, will literally never attempt any other shot. Just pack the paint and his contained.
Zion is NBA player fat, not regular American fat.
GLP1s do not cause bone deterioration. Rapid weight loss without necessary dietary intervention and without resistance training causes it.
A dietician can’t stop him from eating unless they hire someone 24⁄7. He’s gonna sneak in meals because he knows it doesn’t matter what he does
They have more than enough money and resources for a 24⁄7 babysitter.
How many people is it gonna take to get Zion to intermittent fast
The rapid weight loss causes a reduction in bone density, not the medication itself. And an athlete who is regularly doing strength training wouldn’t have to worry about it anyway since their muscle mass would largely be unaffected.
Its also a compounding effect of getting injured, then keeping/gaining weight because you’re not able to work out and slim down.
Ozempic doesn’t help with Onlyfans & BBL addictions
He’s plenty fit now, he’s just not as good as his hype
This. He’s still very good, and could be a part of a playoff rotation most definitely, but he’s also not up to the hype of being the next face of the league. Feels like people only consider players the GOAT or trash, and don’t allow for players to be somewhere in between those two extremes.
Doesn’t it cause a lot of muscle loss and make your bones brittle? It has downsides, especially for pro athletes
No, GLP1s do not cause bone deterioration. Rapid weight loss without necessary dietary intervention and without resistance training causes it.
Thats just an issue with rapid weightloss in general, which is what some people take it for. He has medical staff and athletic trainers to prevent this
That happens when you lose weight without getting enough protein in and not doing resistance training, regardless of glp.
That only happens if you don’t do any sort of resistance training at all, which if you’re in these meds, then you should be doing anyway.
Because a professional athlete shouldn’t require medicine to actually do his fucking job.
These athletes don’t understand the privileged position they are in. All they have to do is stay fit and healthy for max 20-30 years.
Then they can retire and eat shit all they want
He’s the reason Wemby became the face of the league by default; Zion was a disappointment, you could even call him a bust because he was supposed to be a LeBron/Shaq baby.
They were comparing him to Barkley but more explosive.
I remember when he just exploded that shoe at Duke haha never seen anything like that in my life.
Think about his fucking tendons. My man is a physics defying abomination; it’s insane he can do what he does at all.
Never seen this before but if this wasn’t Nike, I don’t think that shoe company would survive being able to produce basketball shoes anymore.
It’s one of the top reasons why companies don’t let professional players use retail versions. They are all customized and go through special QA to ensure things like this never happens. Can you imagine if Anthony Edward’s got injured and out for an entire season because his pair of AE1 exploded and tore his ACL?
Those tapes from Duke were fucking crazy, I was convinced he’d score 100 in his debut and that would be his career low
Comp for ceiling is still valid tbh. Hopefully he locks in and bounces back
yea any day now
Charles Barkley/Shawn Kemp hybrid.
That’s actually a decent comp for Zion when he’s healthy and at his best. The problem is that’s almost never.
Tbf that’s exactly what he looked like
I mean he kind of was/is baby Shaq in that his lack of care regarding his conditioning has abetted what his peak could be, not helped by injuries that as a result took far longer to recover due to said conditioning issues
Orlando Shaq was fairly disciplined. Hollywood fucked him up.
I think it’s less Hollywood and more that Shaq lost a bit of that fire/discipline once he finally got that first championship, and it’s not like Shaq was ever the hardest worker as is. Like even back in Orlando he didn’t do much to work on improving his free throw shooting despite him being in better shape.
Yeah I agree that he lost the fire as he has admitted this a few times. He also got a lot of tv roles etc in LA, put on shit tonnes of muscle and called himself Diesel.
Man, I feel so mixed about this situation.
He has clearly not met the sky high expectations, but he’s also shown a very high ceiling when he plays.
There’s also questions about the Pels, and what their willingness has been at times to invest in him and the team at an ownership level.
Definitely felt like Griff tried to make ownership spend/take swings, but they pulled the plug when the results weren’t what they wanted (which can be partly attributed to Zion’s health).
He is literally unstoppable when he’s healthy. Too bad we can only see those in a couple of games a year.
He was healthy last year and plenty stoppable still.
he lost a lot of weight and just seemed so small out there
like he was barreling down the court but as a little guy now, it was very strange
it always seemed like he got blocked all the time. stats say he got blocked 82 times in 62 games which seems high
Really think all these takes about how unstoppable he is are people living off highlights from like year 2 of the Zion experience.
He played in 62 games this season and looked quite stoppable to me lol
Not that we have the biggest bodies to throw at him, but he literally just steamrolled anyone in his way when we were against the pels. I seldom see Lebron get outmuscled by a smaller guy (height-wise).
Facts he’s definitely capable. But New Orleans has too many thick bitches I don’t blame him
They out there wolfing down beignets with both hands.
Have you had a fresh beignet? I kind of don’t blame them. I know I’d be 50 pounds heavier if I live in NO
Spent 5 days in NOLA a while ago. The only time I was hungry on the trip was after landing right before our first meal. The food is so heavy that it sits with you, but you also keep eating cause it’s good and you’re in New Orleans, what are you going to do? Not eat?
Disagree on he showing high ceiling.
I thought he looked like one trick pony. No shooting, no playmaking, not impressive size and defense is barely passable.
He scores from paint from iso. And thats pretty much it.
I do not think he will ever reach winning player status. Looking like worse Julius Randle as of this season.
Agreed on one trick. He’s added nothing to his game, and he can’t score when it matters most late in games. Teams just sag off ready to help and build a wall, and he has to pass out. Just having a 12 footer would completely change the defense, and he can’t or won’t shoot it.
I prolly sound dramatic, but it feels like that one abusive partner that keeps in telling you “I promise I won’t hurt you again”, with my naive ass believing every word they said.
His exit interview sounds promising, but he needs to prove the organization on how determined he is at making it up. Maybe take a pay cut like Brunson? Idk.
I feel bad for NO fans. This guy was getting close to LeBron level hype when he was in college.
We put together a team that made the playoffs without him. I can’t really fault Griffin or the FO when the guy they tried to build around didn’t take his career seriously.
30 out of 30 teams would have taken him
You can’t blame Zion for 2024 he played 71 games and was doing alot in that play in, Ever since 2024 he’s been way more healthier and in shape
I agree - the last couple years he’s generally been I shape. His only injury was the hamstring pull and then reinjuring it, which is common, hamstring stuff is to get over for anyone. I don’t blame him for 2025 either, the entire team, literally the entire team, got hurt. But it look Zion ~4 years to even just take conditioning somewhat seriously.
I thought him and ja morant were next up. Crazy how things turned out lol
Remember when his shoe blew out during a game at Duke and Nike stock lost $1.1B in market cap?
That’s a problem with the Media. For about 4 or 5 years there were quite a few “the Next LeBrons”
Andrew Wiggins, Ben Simmons, Jabari Parker, Zion. I remember all those “next LeBron” conversations from ESPN.
This dude never made the playoffs ? Holy sht
He was cooking in both the Kings and Lakers play-in Games in 2024, but got injured in the latter game.
The Pelicans went on to the playoffs (and got swept) without him. So healthy Zion does actually help his team win.
The Pelicans also made the playoffs in 2022 without him as the 9th seed and took the 1st seeded Suns to 6 games in the first round.
Who would we all take In a redraft?
Looking back at the 2019 draft, so many players did not live up to expectations.
Who would u even take between Ja & Zion?
RJ Barrett
I’d take Ja. It’s possible that a different front office could have maybe navigated that better.
Idk man he can’t even shoot a little bit & if his athleticism is really declining…
honestly it’s wild how any of the top 3 guys from last year should probably go #1 in a class like 2019
I guess it’s between Darius Garland and RJ Barrett?? RJ has no All-Star appearances but his numbers aren’t bad I guess. & then there’s Tyler Herro lol….
That entire draft ended up being shockingly bad actually. Character issues from Zion & Ja and then a bunch of busts or low-performers everywhere else.
Lowkey as much shit as 2024 got pre-draft for being bad, I think Castle, Sarr, Kyshawn and McCain will end up making 2024 better. 2019 will end up as the worst in the last 10 years
How is it that we know the details of every offer for Giannis but we still don’t know what the tornado trick is?
As a Magic fan, yall will see playoffs with Jamahl Mosley. First round exit but you’ll see it.
if only he didn’t get injured in the play-in game before they faced the suns. they had a real chance to beat them if he was healthy
Yeah, it was sad because he was already cooking. They badly needed him that series.
Between them and the Knicks. Crazy the timeline change that’d be
Certified bust
To be fair the ticketing office won after drafting Zion even though he hasn’t delivered.
A lot of people here didn’t see that Zion did lose weight last year, and he looked a lot smaller. It was to his detriment, because he couldn’t bully people anymore.
He was like small giannis out there. And he got blocked so much (82 blocks against in 62 games).
Wembanyama gets criticized for carrying the Spurs to the finals in his first playoff season at 22 yo while Zion gets to chill and eat burgers all day.
I legit feel bad for them. I’ve never been that passionate about any company I’ve worked for.
The league would be much better if contracts were not fully guaranteed, how is it possible that so many of these recent lottery picks get generational money and then fall off a cliff, same goes for players who only try during contract years
Tbf Zion is on a non-guaranteed deal every year that only becomes guaranteed if he plays enough games in a season.
Man Knicks fans have to be grateful they didn’t get the 1st pick
Still remember when he was touted as a “once in a generation” prospect and when that failed, they just transferred the narrative to Wemby
i’ve never been this excited about anything in my life
Valid reaction at the time
Man has a Knicks fan I remember this day. I was so angry at the league. Convinced myself that they were all against us 😂
Duke Zion was a fuckin *monster.* Dude just pissed his potential away because he can’t put the fork down and keep it in his pants.
That’s some fake ass corporate energy anyway
They should have traded Zion years ago
Zion had megumi, man
Looks like the party room at a TGI Fridays.
It was fairly obvious his body wasn’t made for the nba
The way he walks around offcourt is quite an unnatural look.
It’s a bit like a penguin walks, which shows that his physique is not “balanced”
But that Duke frosh campaign thoooo
Imagine it being 2010 and Lebron had yet to make the playoffs.
is he better or worse than greg oden?
He played in the playoffs against the thunder did he not?
Is that Moriah Mills in the back?
Free that man
He drinks pancake batter
Barkley - “It’s like me and Shaq had a baby!”
Best thing to ever happen to the Knicks was drafting 3rd that year
Fatty fat fat! Same problem with Luka. Just get in shape, it’s so fucking easy with your resources.
In retrospect 2019 just wasn’t a very good draft. Zion hasn’t panned out but IDK who you’d pick over him if given a chance to redraft
Shaq’s and Chuck’s baby?
This is like a meme.
Anyone remember when the Pels got to the 1 seed in the West for like a week? December 2022. It actually felt like they were turning the corner
Reminder that the only teams with number one picks from the past 40 drafts who won a championship with that pick are the Spurs (Robinson/Duncan) and the Cavs with Kyrie (and the good fortune that another number one was the greatest player ever who grew up nearby and returned after they got two more number one picks).
Let me wither in peace. I don’t need this right now tf.
That is warped in so many ways. Imagine if folks had that energy for universal healthcare and a decent educational system.
I find this reaction so corny and I hate it. Idk why I feel this way but I do.
Lol I get it. Iirc San Antonio also had the same reaction when they locked in Wemby.
Nah, Pels fan here and this was 100% me as I drove home from work listening to the lottery on the radio. Genuine.
Zion and Pels need to move on from each other
I remember at one point having hopes that maybe the Knicks would have Zinger and Zion as their front court. So glad that didn’t come to fruition lol. It would have been a fun team like the 3 games a year they were both healthy together.
Zion has the Shaq get the fuck out of the way power but he never locked in and took it serious