Is It Too Early To Judge The 2019 NBA Draft?

by Ryan ‘Turbo’ Jackson

Yes, I know these guys are in their third season and the first one was in the bubble so is this fair?  My answer is yes! LOL! There were some big names at the top of this draft and in comparison to the last two drafts the names in this one were way bigger coming right out of college. And before you flip the page, I am not going to break down the entire first round, but I will hit on a few to give a where are they now snapshot.

“With the first pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, the New Orleans Pelicans select Zion Williamson.” All NBA fans heard this and it didn’t come as any surprise. With a skillset that was NBA ready and a body and size that rivals only Lebron James this seemed to be a can’t miss pick for the Pelicans. Once he took the floor he took the NBA by storm. He is a big guy who can not only play down low and throw down some of the most dazzling dunks, but he can also shoot from the outside. We all saw when he was with Duke blow through his sneaker and ending up on the bench with an injury. I think I am not the only one that thought this was a fluke injury, but it seems to have opened the door to more and more injuries. It is too early to call Zion a bust…ehhh…it is getting close for me. When he is on the floor, he is amazing. I won’t bore you with the numbers, but they are eye-popping. But a player’s best ability is availability. He needs to be on the court for a few seasons to get back to good graces with NBA pundits. 

In my opinion, Ja Morant was the best player in this draft. However, Zion casted a large shadow.  Both of these guys were looked at as can’t miss prospects however, Ja has taken the NBA by storm and I think that if you poll NBA coaches and GM’s they would say that Ja should have went number one. He not only has avoided the injury bug but he has grown leaps and bounds since joining the league. He just set his team’s single game scoring record. He has helped his team make the playoffs whereas Zion has not lead the Pelicans to the playoffs yet. The NBA kind of extended things in hopes that the Pelicans would make the playoffs in the bubble but they fell short. On my podcast, we have been pumping Ja for years now. He caught my attention early on when at Murray State. As a sophomore he was named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year and led the NCAA in assists. He also was the only player in NCAA history to average 20 plus points and 10 plus assists per game. The big knock on him was he was doing it in a small conference.  

There have been other players in that draft that have made some noise, but the top two were the big guns. My hope is that Zion can come back and be the player we all thought he would be but the thought of Greg Oden in the 2007 draft. He went number one and Kevin Durant went number two.  Oden was ridden with injuries his entire career and never panned out whereas Durant has went on to become one of the most dominate scorers in NBA history. I hate to say it but the 2019 Draft is seeming to be very similar to that draft but come on Zion…prove me and a lot of other talking heads wrong and get on the court and STAY on the court!

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