When the basketball world converged on Las Vegas last week _ not just coaches and executives and scouts and reporters, but a who's who of NBA stars packed into the front rows _ it was for one main attraction. Everyone was there to see Zion Williamson.
But Williamson's stay lasted just long enough for a pregame layup line of dunks and nine minutes of action before he was done for the summer league. A knee-to-knee collision put him on the bench at first and then out of action for the rest of the session in what the New Orleans Pelicans described as a precautionary measure.
That brief showing didn't exactly reinforce the notion that he is a generational talent. One Western Conference coach shook his head and noted, "He's not in college anymore. He wants to bull his way in _ you saw Mitchell Robinson just say, 'OK, I'll meet you up there' and block his shot with no fear." An Eastern Conference scout said, "His conditioning was not what you want to see from a kid trying to make an impression."
Williamson may be fine with a 6-7 frame carrying 285 pounds _ or more, if you listened to the guesses on his weight coming from the observers who were happy to pounce on his flaws. But Williamson, in his absence, became an afterthought.
While the event once was a place for executives to move into the shadows to negotiate free-agent deals, nearly every deal was done by the time this summer league commenced. This time they were mostly talking about deals already done and a handful of blockbuster trades that came out of the ether.
Would one of them have wandered into one of the sports books in casinos to place a bet that Paul George would be recruited by Kawhi Leonard, and that in a matter of days, a deal would be completed to pair them together with the Clippers? Or that a week later, Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul would be trading places?
The structure of the league shifted under the feet of those executives who found that their power paled in comparison to the might of the players who suddenly were flexing their muscles.
Acceptance was the mood in Vegas. At least it was among the teams who would speak _ a group that included nearly every team and not the Knicks. While news conferences were being held in various corners of the Thomas and Mack Center, Knicks president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry contributed not more than a wave to the media. They refused to speak about the free-agency letdown that was reflected in the team statement just hours after the market opened or even address the six players they have signed.
David Fizdale was the very public face of the franchise last season as the talent was ripped away and he was left to coach a team for a franchise that operated with the intention of collecting as many Ping-Pong balls as possible. But after being the voice throughout the season, he was kept quiet in Vegas. Asked after the fourth and final game before the playoffs and consolation rounds if he would speak, Fizdale laughed and said, "When they turn me loose. They're holding me hostage."
Maybe it's understandable that they'd like this to pass by. Let the players arrive. Let someone star in summer league. And maybe the promises and assurances that the stars were coming this summer will be forgotten. Maybe even by the time they have to talk, there will be some trade for a star and it will all seem as if that was the plan.
They aren't saying, and when asked for a comment as to why they weren't speaking, the Knicks passed on that, too.
A handful of the new players spoke in Vegas. No one played well enough to make you forget what had passed the Knicks by, particularly when the Nets were holding a news conference one day to discuss landing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and the Clippers were holding court another day to talk about Leonard and George. So maybe this won't be forgotten by the time Mills or Perry or Fizdale speak and it will all be dredged up again.
