NBA Rumors: Buzz on Zion Williamson, Blake Griffin Trade, Warriors Roster Moves
The biggest, albeit least surprising news in the NBA is that Zion Williamson has knee concerns. The kid is 19, 6'6" and 285 pounds. Obviously those knees were going to be in danger.
Like LeBron James, Zion's athleticism has been considered an anomaly that defies logic. Unlike LeBron, Zion's injury history dates back to AAU basketball, and knee issues have since popped up in college, Summer League and, now, the NBA preseason.
As ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported, Zion's knee injury hasn't been determined to be severe—but in the spirit of caution, "he is expected to miss periods of weeks to start [the] regular season."
Although Zion is expected to make a full recovery, this is a fittingly spooky situation to deal with in October and one basketball fans have worried about since first laying eyes on Zion's unnatural ability to forcefully defy the laws of gravity despite such an abundance of weight.
Elsewhere, the Detroit Pistons seem steadfast in their reluctance to trade Blake Griffin and rebuild. As reported by the Detroit News' Rod Beard, according to his conversations throughout the organization, "there is no discussion of trading Blake Griffin." Griffin averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 2018-19 en route to a playoff bid for the Detroit squad.
Without a strong revamp this summer, expectations remain modest for the Pistons. While adding Derrick Rose and Joe Johnson is nice, they don't move the needle from playoff to championship contention. Trading Griffin and rebuilding seems sensible, but the Pistons appear happy to run it back and continue filling seats.
The bigger revamp is happening across the country in California. The Golden State Warriors lost Kevin Durant this summer, gained D'Angelo Russell and are retooling their frontcourt. An unfortunate consequence of that retool? Waiving the fan-favorite, talented wing Alfonzo McKinnie, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.
Despite McKinnie providing valuable minutes and energy in a reserve role this past season, the Warriors were hard-capped by their acquisition of Russell and needed to waive McKinnie in order to sign Marquese Chriss. A major surprise this preseason, Chriss is big and has tons of potential despite a tumultuous history of disappointing franchises.
Chriss will join a frontcourt rotation with Kevon Looney, Willie Cauley-Stein and Omari Spellman, where he will get the opportunity to earn big minutes if he can capitalize on his potential and learn the Golden State system. McKinnie—a versatile wing who crashes the glass, has defensive tenacity and is capable as a cutter and, at times, a spot-up shooter—will become one of the most coveted free agents available.
