The former No. 1 pick and New Orleans have agreed to a max contract extension worth up to $231 million.
www.nba.com
It's possible that Zion gets hurt again but it's worth remembering that Joel Embiid was a much bigger question mark at this point in his career and no one thinks about that now.
If there was any upside to making anonymous bets with strangers on the internet I'd put money on a monster year from Zion.
There have been two successful Zion Williamson-type players that I can think of in NBA history: Larry Johnson and Charles Barkley. All three were undersized but chunky players that were freakishly athletic and strong. Larry Johnson played 5 seasons, one of which had injury issues, before he started to decline significantly due to injuries and wear and tear. Barkley played 6 seasons before he started to regularly lose games to wear and tear, although he still played over 60 games a year for the next 6 years. It is also worth noting that A) Barkley is a once in history freak of nature, and B) Barkley significantly changed his style as he got older, becoming more of a post-up and jump shooter rather than an attack-the-basket player. Less running and jumping.
Zion is at least 30 pounds heavier than either of those two were in their primes, and has played one complete season out of his first three. The human body has limits, and asking a 6'6", 300ish pound player to be flying down the court and dunking is going to put a lot of strain on his feet and legs. Either Zion has to get down to 250-260, or he is not going to last in the NBA.
p.s. I am aware that Barkley and possibly Johnson were lying about their weights in their prime, and I assume that Barkley was 260-270 during the second half of his career.
www.espn.com
