The freak injury to Duke forward Zion Williamson has put in perspective his impending value to NBA teams hoping to acquire him. To some, he could be worth a bunch of wins right now if he had been allowed to go to the NBA straight from high school, making him an immediate game-changer:
“If he didn’t have to go to Duke and we had drafted him [last June],” an NBA executive told Ben Golliver of The Washington Post, “Zion would have added seven to 10 wins to our team this season. He’s that good at creating offense for himself and everyone around him.”
One coach said he would pick Williamson over Doncic, who is bound to be the runaway choice of Rookie of the Year. In terms of an NBA comparison:
“If Luka’s best-case is James Harden, Zion’s is Giannis Antetokounmpo,” the coach said.
While Williamson's 6-foot-7, 285-pound frame is wildly different from The Greek Freak's at 6-foot-11 and 222 pounds, his averages of 22.4 points and 9.2 rebounds through his freshman season already put him as the top choice in this year's draft. He leads the NCAA in Player Efficiency Rating and Box Plus/Minus by a wide margin.
The Duke freshman has already earned praise from two NBA greats who have been closely watching him through his first 26 collegiate games:
“I’ve never met him,” said LeBron James, who sat courtside at a Duke game earlier this month. “But I love everything about him.”
For Stephen Curry, a two-time MVP, his talent goes beyond the athletic heroics:
“He plays hard every possession,” said Curry. “That’s a very underrated skill that kids that can emulate. That’s the thing that will help him be successful when he gets to the league.”
This injury doesn't seem to be a career-threatening one, so executives and coaches around the league should be able to exhale as they continue to hope for some lottery luck in order to have a shot at Zion Williamson.
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