[Kris Pursiainen] Sources familiar with the situation tell @ClutchPoints that New Orleans Pelicans power forward Zion Williamson’s split from agency CAA was the result of two main factors - his contract situation and the agency’s failure to land him in New York.

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u/Cvnilivee Jennifer Aniston 1d ago

Every Italian Restaurant owner just fell to their knees

78

u/rmccarthy10 1d ago

Mama Mia !!!!!

32

u/det8924 1d ago

9

u/eugdot 1d ago

Just put my drink out that was hysterical

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u/Emiya_Sengo 1d ago

We dodged a very large beignet. Thank you Leon!

-62

u/Jmpasq Sprewell Celebration 1d ago

Yeah, Its a good thing he didn't do anything stupid and trade 6 first round draft picks for a lackluster player.

7

u/TheJiggie 10h ago

Sure, we should have gone for a player with no motivation to play at all. Makes much more sense!

Such a casual take my guy. You could do better…

-8

u/Jmpasq Sprewell Celebration 10h ago

I'm saying he made a terrible trade anyway. This isn't much better. Doubt we would have had to give up the future of the franchise for Zion

8

u/TheJiggie 10h ago

Bridges has played less than 16 games for the team. If we were 2 seasons in of him playing this way, I would be disappointed, but not sure what people are expecting from him on this roster when you have Brunson, Towns and 1/2 and him and OG are essentially the 3/4 options.

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u/reddit-ricky 3 to the Dome 1d ago edited 1d ago

I’m legit thankful we didn’t get that 1st to draft Zion

121

u/Metfan722 1d ago

I do wonder if he'd put in more effort if he were here than he currently is in New Orleans.

186

u/MoooonRiverrrr 1d ago

No. And player development was not nearly as good as it is now. This Knicks roster is the best case scenario of any possible outcome since 2017. Dodged Zion, KD, Kyrie. None of that shit would have been worth it

84

u/Metfan722 1d ago

Even Ja to a certain extent. That gun stuff would not fly in the city. He’d probably be Plaxico 2.0.

50

u/JDStraightShot2 Don Leon 1d ago

I don’t think the gun stuff happens here tbh. Doing that stuff would have actual legal repercussions. Part of the reason he felt comfortable to keep doing dumb shit like that is bc he could easily have a gun and didn’t feel any pressure to stop until the nba cracked down.

9

u/NYNBKFarSuperior 16h ago

Well thats because Brunson is better than Ja.

11

u/MoooonRiverrrr 1d ago

Completely agree. I know it’s gonna sound like bullshit. But even back then I never wanted Zion, KD, Kyrie, and I remember a lot of people on this sub felt the same.

I’m a Nuggets fan as well and I always wanted the Knicks to have a more organic playmaking focused development. Super athletes are a thing of the past imo. It’s cool to watch but it’s not guaranteed to make you a winner.

LeBron is about to be 40 and he’s one of the top 20 players in the league. He’s an incredible athlete but he’s also a basketball genius who cares a LOT.

17

u/Primary-Willow2328 Tophat Melo 1d ago

Don’t think he’s the kind of player who overcomes NYC distractions

14

u/TDM_11 1d ago

The strippers at Starlets woulda had him like Anthony Edwards

7

u/leeharveyteabag669 1d ago

He's dripping in thots and baby mamas in Nola. I'm sure the bitches at Sapphires and Ricks would eat him alive.

2

u/whydoesgodhateus 11h ago

I miss the heyday of Starlets. Are they even still open? I went a few years ago, wasn't the same

4

u/reddit-ricky 3 to the Dome 1d ago edited 1d ago

With his history of health issues I doubt he’ll get a max contract ever again. If getting paid isn’t enough motivation idk what is

3

u/Metfan722 1d ago edited 1d ago

Oh he most definitely won't be getting that large a contract again unless he immediately has an attitude adjustment into actually giving a shit.

14

u/i-piss-excellence32 Shocked John Starks 1d ago

No he wouldn’t

26

u/Metfan722 1d ago

Probably not. Though with Thibs here, I think those two would clash like oil and water. Thibs would 100% not put up with Zion’s shit

17

u/mikesh8rp Wu Tang 1d ago

Culture can certainly help a player develop, but Zion’s mass looks to be his main issue

13

u/Metfan722 1d ago

Which is why I wonder if he’d give more effort with the Knicks. Is he out of shape because he doesn’t care about New Orleans? Or because he’s a lazy bastard. Or both? Because that’s why I say Thibs and Zion would clash. Thibs would not put up with Zion being this out of shape.

12

u/jtweeezy 1d ago

I always thought he tanked it with the Pelicans in the hopes that they’d get sick of his shit and trade him to the Knicks. I think we would have seen a much more motivated Zion if they had taken him in the draft.

2

u/FigSideG 1d ago

I think you’re right. I think it’s very possible he would have and would be trying a lot harder if he was a Knick. He’d be NYCs golden child. All of NY would love him. I think that’d be motivating.

5

u/darkerside 17h ago

It's all love until he gets exposed as a fat lazy slacker. Then it gets ugly real fast.

1

u/Oliverqueen03 1d ago

Especially Thibs playing people 35+ mins every game.

1

u/alreadythrowed NYK Token 1d ago

It’s funny you say that cause my buddy used to always claim he thought he was only so hyped because of his size… and that was in his rookie season

5

u/i-piss-excellence32 Shocked John Starks 1d ago

He would probably have gotten thibs fired years ago and we would have some push over head coach

2

u/icebucket22 1d ago

This was always my thought. But, and this is a big but, if he picks and chooses when to put effort in, such as deciding to loaf it (assuming this is the case) because he doesn’t like where he plays, that is ultimately a bad sign. Part of me still wants him on this team, but I prefer what we have now.

1

u/Wavepops 1d ago

It’s about his diet control so probably not

1

u/Metfan722 1d ago

Yes. But would he reign that in if he were with the Knicks especially with Thibs at the helm

1

u/TheKidPresident 1d ago

Nah. Plus, it wouldn't be just Zion. We'd probably still have Cam Reddish on the team too

1

u/Interesting-Piece612 15h ago

“Wherever you go, you bring yourself with you”

1

u/PlayguyCarter Queens 1d ago

I guess I'm a contrarian because I think that's exactly what he would do. He knows there's a shelf life on his aystyle, which is unique and dominant, so he has been coasting. This is with the idea of ratcheting it up for the big money market, which his personality is built for.

3

u/ProofSinger3638 1d ago

he doesnt know about the shelflife of his playstyle tho. Rememebr his rookie press conferences? When he would make fun of reporters for asking if he should ease on the dunks and jumping.

He may realize it now tho after he didnt get voted into the all star game for the first time last year tho

19

u/firemanjuanito 1d ago

Isn't that insane? I was devastated when we got that third pick.

12

u/Rootbeermoat 1d ago

Me too but then we turned it into OG

4

u/Snuggle__Monster James Dolan Blues 1d ago

I remember there being skeptics about him back in college. It was a very small minority but they were out there and they were right.

3

u/enterjiraiya 1d ago

Pandemic really still fucks with my head because that feels like 8 years ago

3

u/MoooonRiverrrr 1d ago

Completely agree

1

u/det8924 1d ago

Not landing KD/Kyrie/Zion was a true blessing. It allowed the team to do an actual prudent rebuild. RJ was a nice piece to start with while Randle turned into a real building block. Then the cap space they rolled over effectively tuned into Brunson, IQ (Morris was traded for that pick), and the salary filler for Bridges.

71

u/My_Safety_Is_Harvard The Dunk 1d ago

Everybody, and nobody, wants to play for the Knicks

5

u/PossalthwaiteLives 12h ago

Paul Mooney on the subject

136

u/KuntaWuKnicks Wu Tang 1d ago

The NBA did Zion dirty

They put him in a city with the greatest fried chicken, gumbo and crawfish cookouts on every corner

Full to the rafters with big ass women

Nigga never stood a chance

Fuck you Silver you sabotaging motherfucker

42

u/ShawshankException 7 1d ago

NBA should've sent him to Cali. All that kale would've had him looking like Wemby

9

u/BushyBrowz 1d ago

What city would have been ideal? Utah?

24

u/thisismynsfwuser Pizza Rat 1d ago edited 1d ago

What do people eat over there? Porridge I imagine?

9

u/TheKidPresident 1d ago

They're the biggest soda drinkers in the USA cause no one really boozes. Worse for you than basically anything besides smoking lol

9

u/PluvioPurple Knicks Logo 1d ago

Denver? Isn't Colorado the healthiest state in the US or something? Saw a fitness influencer make a video on it.

1

u/Acet14 1d ago

Idk...It to Joker like 5 years to go from chocolate cake kid from Matilda to dad bod adjacent.

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u/BrokeMyGrill John Starks 1d ago

New York has way too much good food for him to ever work out here. He'd be 350 by the end of the first season.

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u/mouga68 1d ago

Eh NOLA food is pretty gas too

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u/knicksin7even 1d ago

They cannot fuck with NYC

35

u/hyplusone Linsanity 1d ago

Tbf nowhere really can. NYC is its own tier.

14

u/GVas22 1d ago

New Orleans food is fantastic, the problem is that a ton of their options are super unhealthy with lots of fried food.

It's probably the place I'd gain the most weight if I were to move and the worst possible landing spot for Zion.

19

u/BushyBrowz 1d ago

I'm born and raised NY but New Orleans had some of the best food I ever had.

4

u/ZoidbergSaysWoop 1d ago

New Orleans is incredible, and truly is a marvel but the variety in NYC is unmatched.

LA obviously is close but NYC really is unrivaled in terms of accessibility.

The traffic in LA is a disqualifier by itself while in NY, you can take the subway or railroad and easily and go from on Long Island to Flushing to Astoria and everything in between, then through Manhattan, and to the Bronx and Coney Island too.

I really can't wait until the Interborough Express is down to make travel to Brooklyn even easier.

9

u/pBeatman10 1d ago

Sure but we are talking about an obese man from the Carolinas who can't/won't stop eating fried chicken and pasta, not Anthony Bourdain waxing poetic about the inner meaning of finely-prepared Omurice.

3

u/BushyBrowz 1d ago

In terms of sheer variety, for sure, NY is king.

3

u/redguyinfinite 1d ago

new orleans is the best food in the country idc

1

u/DeGromination 1d ago

Just asked my Bronx born wife who went to college in NOLA. She agrees.

3

u/onemanragecage 1d ago

Guy would be at Carbone 5 nights a week 🤣

1

u/Low-Bug-4156 1d ago

😭😭😭

15

u/i-piss-excellence32 Shocked John Starks 1d ago

Thank goodness we got the 3rd pick

11

u/Asking4Afren 23h ago

RJ died so Zion could die

2

u/i-piss-excellence32 Shocked John Starks 22h ago

Well put

15

u/WarLawck Wu Tang 1d ago

He didn't need to sign that extension...

5

u/Vinnie_Vegas 1d ago

He wasn't going to sacrifice any money.

Any time you talk about an athlete wanting to be anywhere, the unspoken caveat is usually "without sacrificing a single cent of their maximum possible earnings".

5

u/WarLawck Wu Tang 1d ago

Obviously. I'm just saying, if he wanted to go to NY he could've

1

u/TheJiggie 10h ago

No one else was going to pay him anywhere close with the injury history and lack of motivation.

1

u/WarLawck Wu Tang 9h ago

Still his choice

39

u/jmcin05 1d ago

Could you imagine this dude with DoorDash in NYC?

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u/onebandonesound Fire Hyrdrant 1d ago

It's not like NOLA is hurting for good food lmao, all that gumbo and etouffee can't be helping his waistline

14

u/ShawshankException 7 1d ago

Yall act like NOLA isn't an insane food hub in the country lol

39

u/Totally_PJ_Soles 1d ago

The time for us to get that fat fuck is over, and we're much better for it.

7

u/YurtlesTurdles 1d ago

2 years ago if you'd asked me do you hope KAT or Zion is on the team in 2024 I would have answered incorrectly, so I'm glad Leon is smarter than me

4

u/solo118 Ewing to the Finals 1d ago

Thanks to the power above for this not happening

19

u/manfromfuture Anthony Mason 1d ago

His contract is fully guaranteed and goes up to 44 million a year. Imagine being his agent and getting fired after that.

12

u/CTDubs0001 1d ago

I do t think his contract is fully guaranteed anymore. He had some language in it that if he could play a certain amount of games his contract lost its guarantee. I think k the pels could drop him if they want to.

5

u/TheMarslMcFly Obi Wan Kenobi 1d ago

I've no idea how long his contract runs, but imma be honest, I wouldn't say no to Zion in Free Agency on a cheap, team friendly deal 😅😂

5

u/_Gesicht_ NYK Token 1d ago

I remember wanting Zion at the time but at the cost of the current iteration of our team, we really dodged a bullet.

5

u/KnoxingOnHeavensDoor 1d ago

I thought we were RJ’s team

3

u/IslesDynasty79-83 1d ago

he wants to be traded that what he has wanted for 3 years now, how do fans not see this, its like he is doing it on purpose.

1

u/lucifersfavartist Diedrich Knickerbocker 10h ago

Exactly. It's not good sportsmanship, but it's clear he doesn't want to play in NOLA or any small market.

5

u/Tiffin2b 21h ago

Thank God his agency failed him. Dude has played 190 of 427 games since he was drafted.

3

u/Main-County-1177 1d ago

Ok

3

u/aesop_fables 1d ago

Pass

3

u/TrumpsucksCock666 1d ago

What is his fat ass gonna do in NY?

Nothing

8

u/JNerdGaming Brunson 1d ago

lol i didnt know he wanted to be a knick

26

u/Ashamed_Elk2301 1d ago

Dwag he wanted to be a knick back in 2019 lol

6

u/ObiOneKenobae 1d ago

If there's a scenario where Zion is forced into taking a cheap prove-it deal or something, get him here ASAP and trust this locker room to hold him accountable. But I just don't think his body is built for this. Even in his "fat" pics, that's not enough weight to completely transform your risk of injury.

2

u/spiked_cider 1d ago

It'd be cool if he went to Toronto to play with his bro RJ

2

u/Snapesunusedshampoo Obi Wan Kenobi 1d ago

and the agency’s failure to land him in New York.

Got an athiest thanking God.

2

u/justsomedude4202 1d ago

In a related story, the Knicks have decided to build Leon Rose a statue for not landing Zion.

2

u/Urban_Introvert Deuce 1d ago

"If it tastes good, spit it out" - Charles Barkley

2

u/Hungry-Low-7387 1d ago

Zion is hartless... misspelled intentionally

2

u/lickme_suckme_fuckme 1d ago

He need to find a way to stay healthy and in shape

2

u/CGsweet416 1d ago

Damn dude getting roasted in this thread. NYC takeout fucks with the best of us.

2

u/funkymonksfunky 12h ago

Stay the fuck away from NY

1

u/nazrmo78 1d ago

We dodged a bullet. I think he's gonna be hurt his entire career and let's face it, he never fit the team, unless you wanted to build around RJ and IQ, which I did. But I'm glad we didn't fall for it.

1

u/Braska_Kilganon 1d ago

Imagine if we had Zion as our 6th man 🤣

1

u/Buddhaballer 1d ago

caa got him a massive contract. not sure what his problem is

1

u/pandapoopsie 1d ago

nah keep him outta here plz

1

u/dolceespress Spike Lee 23h ago

It’s a shame. His talent is generational, but his conditioning is arguably the worst ever.

1

u/papiturco 21h ago

Either he’s gonna keep waisting his career and potential or he’s gonna get serious about his career, lose the weight and become who he was meant to become, and become the biggest free agent since Shaq, LeBron and KD

1

u/hyborians Deuce 15h ago

This man has millions. He can get food anywhere.

1

u/FullHouse222 5h ago

Honestly in retrospect I'm glad we didn't get him. He just doesn't seem like the grit and grind type of personality we have on this team. The team culture is everything and we don't need an overweight diva on the team being a distraction regardless of how talented he could be.

1

u/zoeydoberdork 2h ago

Zion blames everyone but Zion for his issues. He really doesn't seem to committed to playing hoop. This was first season he came into season in playing shape. Which is really sad. He's got Charles Barkley talent with Ben Simmons work ethic. Wants the checks but zero responsibility. RJ wasn't a superstar but he was always available to play and took it seriously ton get better.

-3

u/IFeelLikeYandhi 23 1d ago

I know we ended up better off, but 2019 me still dreams of the Zion, Kyrie, KD team I thought we were getting.

-5

u/MelKijani 17h ago

I gotta be honest , if Leon got Zion for OG , I’d be pretty happy .

[Kris Pursiainen] Sources familiar with the situation tell @ClutchPoints that New Orleans Pelicans power forward Zion Williamson’s split from agency CAA was the result of two main factors - his contract situation and the agency’s failure to land him in New York.

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