An electrifying thought, courtesy of a wise NBA veteran and avid observer of Duke basketball: Zion Williamson “will actually be better up here” in the pros.
That’s the scouting report from Knicks forward Lance Thomas, a Blue Devils alum who was part of the large NBA contingent — along with teammates Kevin Knox and Emmanuel Mudiay, 76ers star Jimmy Butler, Hawks rookie Trae Young and a drooling horde of league executives and scouts — at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night watching No. 2-ranked Duke, which is loaded with draft lottery talent, dispatch No. 12 Texas Tech, 69-58.
Williamson, the high-flying, truck-sized phenom widely projected to go No. 1 in June’s draft, led Duke with 17 points and 13 rebounds in 25 foul-plagued minutes. He also enchanted Knicks fans looking ahead to 2019 by refusing to sit at Kristaps Porzingis’ home locker out of respect and saying that playing home games for the Knicks “would probably be incredible — this is the Garden.”
The Knicks entered Friday night’s game against the lowly Hawks with a 10.5 percent chance of winning the lottery.
Thomas said it was his first time seeing Williamson in person (he watches Duke all the time on TV), and he came away believing the “very explosive” 6-foot-7, 285-pound forward is “still close to 10 steps ahead of most guys in the NBA” in terms of athletic ability.
“He’s probably one of the most athletic people I’ve seen in person,” Thomas told The Post before the Knicks’ 114-107 loss. “He’s definitely NBA body, NBA athleticism. He plays really hard and passionate, it’s really fun to watch him play.”
Thomas said he thinks Williamson will benefit both from stepping up in competition and from the NBA defensive 3-second rule.
“I almost think he’s too strong for some of the guys he’s playing against,” Thomas said. “A lot of the offensive fouls and calls they’re calling is literally because kids are just bouncing off of him. I think that he’ll actually be better up here. For one, playing against stronger competition, and two, spacing is a lot bigger.
“What he’s doing with a smaller paint and the fact that people don’t have to get out of the paint, he’s doing well in that. Once he comes to this level and guys have to get out of the paint, they can’t just sit in there and camp, and he gets the timing down of when to get in there — he can take off from pretty much anywhere and get to the rim — with the spacing of the NBA game, I think he’ll be fine.”
Thomas also broke down the game of Duke swingman R.J. Barrett, the consensus No. 2 pick.
“He goes coast to coast, he’s an open floor player,” Thomas said. “When he gets the player, 1-on-1, 1-on-2, 1-on-3, he’s going to find a way to take a good shot, and the next step for him is being able to pass out of that. Going downhill, being able to command two or more guys and finding the open person for a shot.”
Thomas, known for his defense, motor and leadership, doesn’t just have his eye on the offensive highlights. He loves the camaraderie he has seen from Duke’s freshmen — a group that also includes potential future first-round picks Cam Reddish and Tre Jones.
“They already have the first thing that you need to have — that’s toughness and grit,” Thomas said. “If you don’t have that, it doesn’t really matter how much talent you have. There’s a lot of guys who are very talented who aren’t in this league because of that.”
Thomas won the NCAA championship as a Duke senior on 2010 on a team of experienced upperclassmen with Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith (now Blue Devils assistant coaches he met up with Thursday night), Kyle Singler and a couple of Plumlees — a far cry from Mike Krzyzewski cornering the market on top one-and-done prospects. But the national title aspiration — expectation, even — hasn’t changed in Durham, N.C.
“The game changes, everybody makes adjustments, and he’s able to land these big recruits and he’s able to get the most out of them,” Thomas said. “In my opinion, he’s the best coach, and if those guys can continue to play a great brand of basketball and defense like they’ve been doing, they have a chance to take it.”
