Draft Profile: Zion Williamson

Zion Williamson

Forward

6’7, 285 lb

Duke #1

My one and only knock on Zion is my growing concern of his weight gain translating to the Pro’s, past that he is one of the most dominant physical players I have ever seen.

Stats: 22.6 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 2,1 apg, 2.1 spg, 1.8 bpg, 68% fg, 33% 3p, ortg: 133, drtg: 84

Zion Williamson is a physically dominant player who is 285 pounds and was unstoppable at the college level. Some of the best coaches created many game plans and schemes but nothing seemed to work, Zion was physically dominant over every defender he faced and often scored with ease. Zion has hops that make him jump out of the gym. No other player in college history may have dominated the fast break like he was able too. Using his speed, he could fill the lane and get behind the defense quickly to catch a lob or throw one to an open teammate. If that did not work, he would just use his body to push defenders out of the way and either dunk with force or lay the ball in with his soft touch. One of the most explosive prospects to enter the NBA draft since Blake Griffin in his Oklahoma days. Zion can also play in the half court as he has a great post game and is great at fighting for a dominant position. Using his body and his strength at his advantage made him the prospect that he has become. Integrating Zion in any NBA offense will instantly give you an advantage as his combination of strength & speed is not common in the Pros. The best way I can see a team using Zion is the Coach Bud method of playing 4 out 1 in. Playing him at Power Forward he will be a tank driving in a 1 on 1 situation and being surrounded by shooters only helps his game. Shooting at 33% he will only shoot if he is open and does not settle for bad contested shots. A very smart offensive player with a mix of footwork and great finishing to work his way out of double teams. When he is doubled, he does not panic and uses his strength to body his way into a basket or pass to the open teammate.

Zion plays both ends of the floor at an elite level. He was the best player on both ends of the floor at the college level this year. Using his athletic ability and strength he was able to become a nightmare on the Defensive end which made Duke the scary force that they were. He seems to always know where the ball is going to be and is the best chase down blocker in college basketball history. With the unbelievable speed at the Power Forward position, he can keep up with any player in the league and can handle bigger players as well with strength.  He has a valuable asset as he can defend the perimeter which in today’s NBA is very valuable to close out your defender and block jumpers. Zion has a big advantage with his jumping ability because it makes him a great rebounder. He averaged 8.9 rpg and about half of them were offensive rebounds. His ability to grab the board in mid-air and get you so many second-chance points is fantastic.

The best way to explain his dominance, his ratings: ortg: 133 – drtg: 84

Every 100 possessions Duke outscores teams by 49 points with Zion on the floor

• Consensus National College Player of the Year(2019)
• Consensus first-team All-American(2019)
• Wayman Tisdale Award (2019)
• Karl Malone Award(2019)
• ACC Player of The Year(2019)
• First-team All-ACC (2019)
• ACC Rookie of The Year (2019)
• ACC Tournament MVP (2019)