Player A simply did not have enough good-to-great basketball playing ability in their being, and therefore fell short. Zeller is one of a handful of names that has been linked to the Thunder as a potential selection with their first round pick that they received from the Toronto Raptors in the James Harden trade. AAU? Giannis Antetokounmpo Falls Asleep & Cody Zeller Steals The Ball After Free Throws Leaving Both Teams In Disbelief! We'll never pass along your email address to spammers, scammers, or the like. But what if that benefit extended beyond the court and into the front office? CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Charlotte Hornets have shown they are committed to center Cody Zeller. As At The Hive’s Russell Varner, What is interesting is whether or not race-related basketball stereotypes played into the drafting of Cody Zeller. But what if that benefit extended beyond the court and into the front office? Hard to tell right now but this is the kind of thing that causes a player’s draft stock to really rise. Reggie Jackson to be the new 6th Man for the OKC Thunder next year? These facts are a bit dramatic, but the point remains. Zeller has battled through knee and shoulder injuries in the past year, but seems to be healthy now. Zeller posted a standing vertical jump of 35.5 inches, which is the highest recorded by a player 6-foot-9 or taller in the last decade. Cody did indeed set a record in big-man jumping at the combine, and so far has been a horrible shooter from anything resembling range. Had Charlotte not signed Zeller, he would have become a restricted free agent after the season. The Hornets have emerged as a potential suitor for Russell Westbrook, I subjected myself to all of the NBA combine testing. Cody Zeller set the record for the highest standing vertical leap of any draft participant 6’9’’ and over. His salary in the 2019-20 season is $14,471,910. There is occasionally — and only occasionally — talk in professional sports, of a sort of racial prejudice that is in fact the opposite of what is most often seen, felt, and institutionalized in day-to-day life. In fact, the degree and extent to which he can and cannot do each of these often racially-correlated things, is actually stunning — at least in a basketball scouting and personnel context. What if Cody was drafted because WABP's can, more often than not, shoot? Your favorite teams, topics, and players all on your favorite mobile devices. Scouts and general managers freak at the prospect of losing their job because of a disappointing white running back, similar (although to a lesser degree) to how they once felt — and most probably still feel — about black quarterbacks. Did Jordan and/or Cho think that Zeller would be able to develop into a stretch 4 beside Al Jefferson because they thought he could shoot, and/or because he was a WABP, the many of which develop into at least decent shooters for their position? Cody Zeller … By clicking "Submit", you agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. Cody Zeller’s 3-point shooting percentage for his career is 9.1 percent. Zeller is looking like an incredible athlete, which is a description that will always follow the Thunder so he may start to be considered an even better fit than before now after the combine. Cody Zeller set the record for the highest standing vertical leap of any draft participant 6’9’’ and over. And his regular max vertical measured out at 37.5 inches, 19th highest at the combine. Who and what [skill-wise] a team needs on the floor to be successful. The Thunder may be thinking big because they will likely need to replace Kendrick Perkins some time down the road and Hasheem Thabeet wasn’t exactly the greatest backup center ever last season. As At The Hive’s Russell Varner pointed out recently, the big man has finally found his positional home in the NBA, and it’s at center. NBA.com is part of Warner Media, LLC’s Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network, Bucks add veteran forward Marvin Williams, Spurs sign Tyler Zeller for rest of season, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist signs with Mavericks, Hornets waive forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Suns honor 'The Valley' with City Edition uniform, Lakers announce information on fans in attendance for 2020-21 season, Report: Russell Westbrook wants out of Houston, Thunder introduce Mark Daigneault as new head coach, Tim Duncan stepping down as Spurs' assistant coach. First, the obvious: Zeller is 7 feet tall. And if so, does it really matter? Being white has traditionally been such an indicator of shooting ability that it’s to some degree probably played to Zeller’s benefit throughout his career, much in the same way left handedness plays into said hands of players who use that particular appendage. he was expected to be such a good one in the first place. Zeller is shooting 61 percent from the field this season. True story, and that's not all: Zeller recorded the highest standing vertical of any player taller than 6-foot-9 in combine history. The former Indiana star is off to a good start, averaging 10.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game in three contests. The former Duke Blue Devil is young with upside, but do the risks outweigh the rewards? The person spoke to The Associated Press on Monday night on condition of anonymity because the signing hasn’t been announced. Now we have a pretty clear picture of the warp speed offseason that’s about to start. The 7-foot Zeller started 60 games last season for the Hornets and averaged a career-high 8.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Rarely are player projections so off the mark in a lateral sense, in that, Player A simply has an entirely different skill set than everyone thought. Taking a look at the strange intersection of skill, race, and expectations. Cody Zeller is a 28-year old American professional basketball player who plays at the Center or Power Forward position for the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA. Zeller agreed to a four-year, $56 million contract extension with the Hornets, according to a person familiar with the deal. Who the hell knows. If you are having difficulty accessing any content on this website, please visit our Accessibility page. Oklahoma City Thunder news from FanSided Daily. Sure, that’s not so uncommon in professional basketball, but just for fun, consider the fact that being a 7-foot tall human is so rare that the Center for Disease Control doesn’t even keep track of statistics for them. Cody himself has said that he "shot 3's back in high school, just not necessarily in games." NBA Trades: Where can the OKC Thunder send Kendrick Perkins? Today at the NBA Draft Combine, former Indiana Hoosier big man Cody Zeller stole the show with an impressive workout. However, hardly ever does a player provide the original expected amount of production, yet in a radically different way than was originally anticipated. The Vertical.com was first to report the signing. The 7-foot Zeller started 60 games last season for the Hornets and averaged a career-high 8.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Cody did indeed set a record in big-man jumping at the combine, and so far has been a horrible shooter from anything resembling range. Potentially more interesting, however — and based on my own personal version of eye-test fan-science — is the fact that Cody Zeller is the only WABP (White, American-Born Player) in the league who holds the distinction, possibly with the exception of Louis Amundson and Mason Plumlee, of being so bad at something so often associated with WABP’s, while at the same time owning one of the more defining attributes that’s so disassociated with WABP’s to the point that it’s literally the title of an early '90s buddy comedy starring Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson, as street ball hustlers. The move came as no surprise within the organization, as it understood from the beginning that Duncan would assist Popovich for only a short period. The 6-foot-10 power forward brings a lot of skills to the offensive end of the floor. Tough to say, no 3-point attempts in the McDonald’s All-American game or the Derby Classic. Even if Jordan and Cho subconsciously drafted Zeller because they thought he'd be able to shoot, can you blame them for making that kind of generalization? He was the 4th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft selected by the Charlotte Hornets. Build your custom FanSided Daily email newsletter with news and analysis on Oklahoma City Thunder and all your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and more.