Scottie Pippen Says Zion Williamson Should "Shut It Down" And End Duke Career

[Heisenberg]

Grant Hills says Zion should not shut it down

https://www.nbcsports.com/video/should-zion-shut-it-down-grant-hill-disagrees-scottie-pippen

Shocking!

[Cheeks]

Grant Hills says Zion should not shut it down

https://www.nbcsports.com/video/should-zion-shut-it-down-grant-hill-disagrees-scottie-pippen

Shocking!

Grant Hill, man with integrity.

[tower912]

https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2019/01/20/zion-williamson-nba-draft-wont-end-duke-career-early

He is going to play. 

[Heisenberg]

Counting the UNC game (which he played only 36 seconds), this makes five straight.

He was originally day-to-day.

Duke burned the red-shirt for Joey Baker right after Zion was hurt.

My guess is he's not coming back until the tournament if for no other reason than to show he's ok.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/26143566/zion-miss-another-game-no-4-blue-devils

[wadesworld]

Counting the UNC game (which he played only 36 seconds), this makes five straight.

He was originally day-to-day.

Duke burned the red-shirt for Joey Baker right after Zion was hurt.

My guess is he's not coming back until the tournament if for no other reason than to show he's ok.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/26143566/zion-miss-another-game-no-4-blue-devils

Why would he need to show he's okay?  Isn't the whole point of sitting out because he has the #1 pick locked up?

[Heisenberg]

Why would he need to show he's okay?  Isn't the whole point of sitting out because he has the #1 pick locked up?

True.

Do you think he is done?

[WarriorDad]

Counting the UNC game (which he played only 36 seconds), this makes five straight.

He was originally day-to-day.

Duke burned the red-shirt for Joey Baker right after Zion was hurt.

My guess is he's not coming back until the tournament if for no other reason than to show he's ok.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/26143566/zion-miss-another-game-no-4-blue-devils

Diagnosed with a grade 1 knee sprain, typical recovery is two to four weeks.  He is likely to play before the NCAA tournament next week in the ACC tournament.

[Heisenberg]

Clay Travis does the "out kick the coverage " podcast.

He floated a conspiracy theory that Zion is done.  Coach K knows they are not nearly as good without  Zion.  See how they struggled against Wake Forest, who is not good.

So K is pretending that Zion is returning to keep them in the hunt for the one seed.  He's trying to tell the committee to seed them as if Zion is still playing

Also K said Zion is not playing Saturday against UNC.  Also said he is not practicing with the team since his shoe exploded.

You buying this theory.

[TallTitan34]

For what its worth, Coach K has said he expects him to play in the ACC tournament. 

[Cheeks]

He looked just fine tonight.

[Cheeks]

Zion's season at Duke helped him more than going straight to the NBA. 


http://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-basketball/news/zion-williamsons-season-at-duke-will-have-bigger-payoff-than-straight-to-nba-route/12xn8qwtril1w1dxrf5rcny58y


Will be interesting to see how that team does with all the youth in the tournament.  Clearly they are talented to the hilt, but one game elimination can be tough situation for the younger dudes (some exceptions with Michigan, Kentucky, etc)

[Heisenberg]

Zion's season at Duke helped him more than going straight to the NBA. 


http://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-basketball/news/zion-williamsons-season-at-duke-will-have-bigger-payoff-than-straight-to-nba-route/12xn8qwtril1w1dxrf5rcny58y


Will be interesting to see how that team does with all the youth in the tournament.  Clearly they are talented to the hilt, but one game elimination can be tough situation for the younger dudes (some exceptions with Michigan, Kentucky, etc)

Zion was not the highest rated High School recruit last year.  That was his teammate RJ Barrett. 

So if high schoolers could go straight into the draft, this presumably means he would not have been the first high schooler picked last year.  Nor would he have been the second overall pick after Barrett. I think that at least Ayton, Bagley, and Donicic would have all been picked ahead of him.  So, at best he would have been the fifth pick last year.

By playing for Duke this year he went from "another lottery pick" to a potential multi-MVP transformational player in the mold of Jordan, LeBron, and Durant.

[Pakuni]

Zion was not the highest rated High School recruit last year.  That was his teammate RJ Barrett. 

So if high schoolers could go straight into the draft, this presumably means he would not have been the first high schooler picked last year.  Nor would he have been the second overall pick after Barrett. I think that at least Ayton, Bagley, and Donicic would have all been picked ahead of him.  So, at best he would have been the fifth pick last year.

By playing for Duke this year he went from "another lottery pick" to a potential multi-MVP transformational player in the mold of Jordan, LeBron, and Durant.

NBA general managers do not base their draft selections on the rankings of Rivals and 247.
If they had Zion in a predraft workout environment, I have little doubt he'd have emerged as the top prospect from the class of 2019. His physicality alone would have proved him a far more ready NBA prospect than Barrett.

[Heisenberg]

NBA general managers do not base their draft selections on the rankings of Rivals and 247.
If they had Zion in a predraft workout environment, I have little doubt he'd have emerged as the top prospect from the class of 2019. His physicality alone would have proved him a far more ready NBA prospect than Barrett.

More than Ayton, Bagley, and Doncic?

[MU82]

I am glad Zion came back to play because he obviously wanted to come back and play.

He obviously loves the game, loves the competition and loves his teammates. It's a joy watching him play.

When these discussions take place we -- even guys like Scottie Pippen -- often forget that maybe the kid simply wants to play.

[Pakuni]

More than Ayton, Bagley, and Doncic?

None of these guys are class of 2019. But yes, Zion certainly would have been deemed a better and more NBA-ready prospect than Bagley or Doncic (who, you might recall, essentially was drafted behind Trae Young and Jaren Jackson)
Ayton would have been an interesting case. NBA teams have a hard time passing up dominant 7 footers, at times to their detriment (see: Greg Oden over Kevin Durant).

[Heisenberg]

None of these guys are class of 2019. But yes, Zion certainly would have been deemed a better and more NBA-ready prospect than Bagley or Doncic (who, you might recall, essentially was drafted behind Trae Young and Jaren Jackson)
Ayton would have been an interesting case. NBA teams have a hard time passing up dominant 7 footers, at times to their detriment (see: Greg Oden over Kevin Durant).

So you think his season at Duke did nothing to improve his draft status?

[Pakuni]

So you think his season at Duke did nothing to improve his draft status?

I think he'd be the first pick in this upcoming draft regardless of where he played, including the G League or overseas.

[Cheeks]

Zion was not the highest rated High School recruit last year.  That was his teammate RJ Barrett. 

So if high schoolers could go straight into the draft, this presumably means he would not have been the first high schooler picked last year.  Nor would he have been the second overall pick after Barrett. I think that at least Ayton, Bagley, and Donicic would have all been picked ahead of him.  So, at best he would have been the fifth pick last year.

By playing for Duke this year he went from "another lottery pick" to a potential multi-MVP transformational player in the mold of Jordan, LeBron, and Durant.

Hard to say if he would have gone first or not, we're all looking at it through hindsight of what he did at Duke, but you are correct he wasn't the highest rated recruit. I could be persuaded either way and none of us will ever know. 

My opinion, same as DeCourcey, the Duke experience HELPED him get to #1 and made his brand even more valuable.  He doesn't become just any other highly ranked player, he has 1 year of insanity buzz that Duke platform helped to deliver for him which he will monetize with shoes and other endorsements to the hilt.