MINNEAPOLIS -- Zion Williamson is ready for the next phase of his life and if that phase includes playing for the Knicks, he's ready for it.
"Yes, if they draft me, I would love to play for them," the 6-foot-7 Williamson said at the Final Four as he received both the Oscar Robertson Trophy and the Associated Press National Player of the Year Award.
The Knicks (15-63) own the NBA's worst record and currently have a 14 percent chance of landing Williamson with the No. 1 pick, as do Cleveland and Phoenix. The NBA Draft Lottery is May 14 in Chicago, while the NBA Draft is June 20 in New York.
"Whatever NBA team I land on, that's where I want to be," he said.
As #Knicks fans dream of this, Zion will collect his AP Player of the Year Award later today here in Minneapolis
- Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) April 5, 2019
(@SNYtv ) pic.twitter.com/SizLSAG0rh
Williamson admitted it was bittersweet to be at the Final Four without being a competitor. His college career ended last Sunday with a 68-67 loss to Michigan State in the Elite Eight in Washington, D.C.
"Yeah, I am a competitor," he said humbly. "I wish I was here under different circumstances, but I mean, you win some, you lose some, so you just got to move on."
As evidence of how humble and refreshing a young star he is, he later added, "So congrats to Michigan State, I wish them the best of luck."
Williamson became the eighth Duke player to win the Oscar Robertson award, and the seventh Blue Devil to win the AP award. He's the third freshmen after Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis to capture both awards.
"I think the NBA is fortunate to get a young player like you to go in, along with some other stars, and be very productive," Robertson said.
"The next thing is you don't know what team you're going to go to in the NBA, but I hope you get with the right team because you're going to be a tremendous star for the NBA. It's just wonderful to have players like you to enter the NBA because the NBA is a great basketball league, and only for players like you will it go forward. So I'm happy to congratulate you on winning this award."
Zion and the Big O pic.twitter.com/hXrPjyMeSa
- Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) April 5, 2019
Williamson figures to be in line for a sneaker deal worth as much as $100 million, more than the $90 million LeBron James got out of high school.
"There are particular, singular athletes that can move the needle," legendary grassroots sneaker guru Sonny Vaccaro told TMZ Sports this week. "Zion Williamson has moved the needle before he even became a professional.
"Zion Williamson is known to 14-, 15-, 13-, 60-, 70-, 80-year-old people because of his brilliance, his charismatic presence. That's why he's different."
Former Duke star Christian Laettner believes Williamson fits perfectly into the modern NBA of positionless basketball, saying he can play any position.
"I think he's going to be awesome, I'm expecting him to be awesome at the next level," Laettner said Tuesday on "Boomer & Gio."
"My only hope is that he never gets injured for the next 4-5 years because if he doesn't, we're going to see some unbelievable blocks, some unbelievable dunks, some unbelievable plays on the basketball court from that young guy."
He added: "I don't really see him fitting in anywhere [at a position], he's a basketball player. He's a very good basketball player. There's times when he looks like a point guard out there. There's times when he looks like Shaq out there. There's times when he looks like Charles Barkley out there. So he's someone that can get a big rebound on the defensive end, push the break like a guard and dunk on you like the best dunkers that I've ever seen.
"So that's positionless. I think he's going to do very well. And yes he does have to develop a little bit more of his jumper but if people give him space he's so explosive and bouncy that he can get by them. And if someone gets tight to him, he can get around them because he's so strong. So he's an unbelievable talent, I think he's going to do very well."
