Zion Williamson

BY: TRE B.

Copyright: Fair Use

Zion Williamson is a 6’7, 285 pound amazing basketball player for the Duke Blue Devils in the ACC. He was born on July 7, 2000, and played for Spartanburg Day High School. He played high school all four years there and lead his team with spectacular plays and amazing dunks. Everyone knew he was going to the next level and that's what he did with a commitment to Duke. He dominates in college and some people describe him as the “Next Lebron”. But I think otherwise. I think that, as good as he is, he won't make it in the NBA.

The first reason he will not make it in the NBA is because he is simply too short for the position he plays. Standing only 6’7 as a power forward can get you through high school and college but, once he hits the NBA, his athleticism and intensity will not be anything but average. The average size of the players who play his position in the NBA stand at 6’11, which is another 4 inches that he will have to learn to handle.

The second reason he will not make it to the NBA is because he has no jump shot. Even though Zion averages 20.4 points per game, all of his points are from inside the paint--dunks or post moves--which will be a lot harder to pull off with his smaller size in the league. His average field goal percentage is 66% from the field which is not bad until you look at where all the points come from. From the 3 point line and back, Zion only shoots 14% on average. From inside points and close 2 point shots, he shoots at 72%. If you take that away, how will he score? Also, even if he were to get more foul calls for his smaller size as a post player, he only shoots 67% from the free throw line. If he tried to change his game to a play-making guard, he's going to have to work on his passing and ball movement because he only averages 2.4 assists per game.

The last reason I have for why he will not be able to make it as an NBA player is because his body will not hold up. At 285 pounds, jumping with a vertical of 40 inches, especially with the hard physical type of basketball that he plays, he is very hard on his body and will not be able to strain his body for that long.

In conclusion, Zion Williamson will not make it to the NBA. The ability is there but things would have to change in the way he plays. There our many great college basketball players that didn't have professional basketball careers. Two examples are both Ohio State players and that would be Jared Sullinger and Aaron Craft.