The Phoenix Suns might draft the next Charles Barkley in 2019
By Adam Maynes
Likely the next big one-and-done college star to enter the NBA will be Duke’s Zion Williamson. Some have compared Zion to Charles Barkley, and one ESPN writer believes that he will fall to the Phoenix Suns in the 2019 NBA Draft.
With more hype than Santa Claus at Christmas, Zion Williamson is taking the NCAA by storm – although he has yet to even play an organized D-1 game for Duke University.
At 6’7″ and 285 pounds, he has been compared to stars of both the NBA’s past and present, from LeBron James to former Phoenix Suns star Charles Barkley. His size would make him the second heaviest player in the NBA if he entered today (a comparison to Barkley), and his freakish hops and athleticism are sometimes described as LeBron James-esque.
If the had been able to enter the NBA Draft in the summer of 2018 right out of high school, he almost certainly would have been a top-ten pick, and maybe even made the decision for Phoenix Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough much more difficult decision in picking between Zion and eventual first overall pick, Deandre Ayton.
Right now, with a clean slate and nothing but tape of him leaping from as far back as the free throw line to slam the ball with more authority and strength than even some grown men in the league today, everybody wants him.
Everybody wants a piece of Zion Williamson.
Fans – and probably executives – of every team have caught themselves at least once imagining this freak of nature playing power forward alongside their current core; flashing by opponents with his quick first step; bowling over those who didn’t quite get their feet set before he mowed through; and scoring points with a controlled-reckless abandon, similar to another NBA great: Shawn Kemp.
Phoenix Suns fans in particular, long awaiting the re-birth of a franchise three-headed monster, can see Zion pairing up with Ayton and Devon Booker, the trio needing only a short time to acclimate to one another before they have the talent and experience to rip through the Western Conference like a child through the wrapping of a gift.
Right now everybody wants Zion Williamson on their team, and ESPN writer Jonathan Givony believes that the Phoenix Suns might be the team to have him.