Following loss, Zion Williamson tweets Phoenix Suns as preferred NBA destination

Following Duke’s surprising 68-67 upset loss to Michigan State in the Elite 8, Zion Williamson took to Twitter and made a surprising pronouncement about where he would like to land in the NBA.

Zion Williamson has been compared to some of the absolute greats in the history of the NBA, most notably LeBron James and Charles Barkley. He is a generational talent, and one that every team, including the Phoenix Suns, would love to add to their roster.

"“This loss is painful. Time to move on. Phoenix is where I want to be. #EverythingHappensForAReason #TimeToRise” – @ZionW32"

So when Zion may or may not have tweeted (and then may or may not have quickly deleted) that the Phoenix Suns were his desired destination in the NBA Draft this summer, it made the fanbase light up with excitement and pride that hasn’t been felt since Charles Barkley was acquired in 1992.

“This is more exciting than when I met Elvis!” Exclaimed one life-long fan.

Following Duke’s surprising 68-67 upset loss to Michigan State in the Elite 8, Zion Williamson took to Twitter and made a surprising pronouncement about where he would like to land in the NBA. Don’t doubt Zion’s judgement for wanting to play in Phoenix either as the reasons are plenty.

To begin with: Devin Booker.

There is no doubt that Zion has watched SportsCenter in recent days and is aware of the tear that Book is on. He obviously too knows of Devin’s youth and that the two of them can grow together to create a dominant combination for many years to come.

Adding Zion to Phoenix would make them instant playoff contenders.

While Booker has waded through four years of losing with no other game-changers on the roster, Zion stepping in immediately makes the Suns significantly better.

Phoenix Suns

Booker’s level of a talent is not available to Zion on any of the other top lottery teams and thus any of those teams would require further rebuilding which takes time. If those teams continue to rebuild through the draft, the possibility of miss-fire picks like the Suns have had to endure on numerous occasions over the past several seasons could hold them back from playoff and championship contention presumably much longer than would be the situation in Phoenix.

I was able to catch up with Booker and asked what he thought about Zion’s tweet. Book quietly grinned with one of his patented sly looks and winked, but otherwise chose not to comment.

Phoenix also touts last season’s number one overall pick, Deandre Ayton (an avid video gamer), who played exceptionally well without a point guard this season, becoming the franchise’s first Sun to ever average a double-double in his rookie year, breaking the franchise record for most double-double’s by a rookie as well.

Apparently unafraid of tampering, Ayton said that he “already created Zion on 2K months ago. Man, we won so many titles. This franchise is gonna be unbeatable. Shaq and Kobe never had Zion. We’d beat those teams easy.”

For a rookie scoring power forward, the one-two punch of Book and Ayton already in place is perfect. Booker of course takes initial scoring pressure off of Zion’s shoulders, while Deandre combining with Zion makes the Suns a dominant rebounding team with great passing from the four and five slots to kick-start fastbreaks.

Head Coach Igor Kokoskov sung Zion’s praises and noted how much easier his life would be with the young stud. “While I can not name names, players of his (Zion’s) caliber make my job easy. Devin has already single-handedly saved me from coaching a 70-loss team in my first year. Adding a potential second superstar to this roster will allow me to have less sleepless nights.”

If Zion went to the Knicks, he’d be on a dumpster fire of a roster, one that isn’t likely to acquire any additional star talent next to him, no matter how much they wish that to happen (honestly, if the Knicks were that desirable of a destination, why has the franchise struggled for so long?)

Kevin Love is an aging, breaking-down veteran who wouldn’t be of much use to Zion or Cleveland for very long, and Colin Sexton doesn’t scare anybody as a point guard (he focuses too heavily on scoring, averaging 16.9p this season but only 2.8a – the very flaw I noted prior to last year’s draft and the reason I did not want the Phoenix Suns to draft him).

And while Chicago can tout a nice little core in Wendell Carter Jr., Kris Dunn, Otto Porter, Zach LaVine, and Lauri Markkanen, none of them are at or will ever be at Booker’s level – not to mention Deandre Ayton’s.

Obviously Zion Williamson has no choice in the matter (so we presume) and it will be up to lottery balls to make the decision for him.

This is an April Fool’s joke anyway as Zion hasn’t even declared for the draft and was never going to make such a pronouncement of his future on the night that Duke was knocked from the NCAA Tournament.

He respects his teammates too much to take away from their accomplishments by making the moment all about him while his teammates deal with the upset loss.

But hey! It’s fun to dream, right??