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Skal Labissiere NBA Draft Profile – 7’0” Power Forward/Center, University of Kentucky, 20 years old
Skal Labissiere is one of the many Kentucky Wildcats players to enter this year’s NBA Draft. The 7-foot tall beast played amazing this past season, but he was often overshadowed on a stacked Wildcats team that featured star guards Jamal Murray and Tyler Ulis. Labissiere is a monster in the paint, taking advantage of his height and his 7’2” wingspan. He is projected to be picked in the 10-15 range of this year’s draft. There’s a good chance that Labissiere starts out in the NBA Development League next year, although he should find himself comfortably in the NBA in no time. It is hard to find players with his shooting ability who also have such great size. This gives Labissiere huge upside.
Strengths
Not only does this big man have the height and wingspan to compete at the NBA level, he also has an amazing shooting ability. Labissiere is terrific in the post because of his tremendous footwork along with his great hook shot, which may be the best of any incoming rookie. Many would say that Labissiere’s greatest strength is his ability to protect the rim, as he averaged 4.2 blocks per game in his lone season at Kentucky.
Weaknesses
Labissiere may be a great shooter, but his passing and court vision need a lot of improvement. He averaged less than one assist per 40 minutes. Although he may be huge and seem like he’d be a great rebounder, his looks are quite deceiving. Labissiere actually lacks a ton of strength and this is rather obvious on the boards.
NBA Player Comparison
A couple of players compare to Labissiere, but the NBA player who comes to mind most when thinking of him is Channing Frye. They are listed about an inch apart from one another in terms of height, along with having the same wingspan of 7’2”. They both have the ability to make long threes and have a similar shooting form.
