Zion Williamson thinks of himself as extremely turbocharged version of Draymond Green

Executive Vice President David Griffin appeared on The Rich Eisen Show yesterday and went into some depth on a variety of topics. He discussed Anthony Davis and the Pelicans mutually agreeing to go their separate ways, the Lakers presenting the best trade package because they were the only team who felt confident enough in their ability to re-sign AD, and why New Orleans will only go so far as the veteran group of Jrue Holiday, JJ Redick and Derrick Favors takes them in the Western Conference next season. However, listening to Griff describe in good detail several of the incoming rookies from the 2019 NBA Draft grabbed my attention the most.

After comparing Zion Williamson to a more athletic Charles Barkley in his prime, Griffin quickly changed gears and said that he wouldn’t compare the first overall pick to anybody because “I think he’s the first Zion.”

However, in his very next breath, Griffin stated, “If there’s a game style and a mental approach that you could equate him to, it would be an extremely turbocharged version of Draymond Green. That’s how he thinks of himself. He wants to be that kind of a credence to winning and it doesn’t have to be all about him.”

**Courtesy of AT&T AUDIENCE Network

A turbocharged Draymond!? YES PLEASE!!!

But Griffin wasn’t finished with melting hearts across New Orleans. Eisen next moved onto Jaxson Hayes and Griffin’s response was equal parts enlightening and intoxicating.

“I don’t know what stands out to people more: the overall verticality that he gets or how quickly and explosively he gets off the floor,” said David Griffin. “His second jump is mind-numbing. The only thing I can equate it to is Shawn Marion. Shawn averaged 20 and 10 for three straight years and I think should get far more talk of hall of fame type credentials. What Shawn did over a period of time with the Suns was mind-numbing and he did it in large part because he was so quick off the floor. He could play the four at 6’7”/230 pounds at a time when that’s not what the league was. Jaxson is that kind of quick off the floor, but he’s seven feet tall and has maybe the best hands I’ve ever seen on a big man beside Amare Stoudemire maybe.”

Later in the interview, Griffin mentions that the Pelicans are not counting on Jaxson Hayes to be an immediate contributor during the upcoming season. For example, Hayes still has to gain a lot of weight and core strength.

Although Eisen glossed over Nickeil Alexander-Walker, he and Griffin did touch on the fact that a number of Duke Blue Devils populate the New Orleans Pelicans roster.

“I guess a part of that’s because we’re basically ‘Blue Bayou’ right now,” said Griffin. “We’ve got all Dukies so maybe that spoke to him {Redick}. Oh, we’re for sure trademarking that, getting shirts made as quickly as possible. We’ve been talking about it for awhile. Some of the Duke contingent think we should be ‘Bayou Blue,’ but I don’t know. I’m torn.”

If you’d like to listen to Griffin’s 18+ minute interview in full, please click on the Youtube video below.

**Courtesy of AT&T AUDIENCE Network

The Rich Eisen Show airs daily at 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET on AT&T AUDIENCE Network which can be found on DIRECTV Ch. 239.