2016 NBA Draft Prospects: Breaking Down NBA Future of Kentucky’s Skal Labissiere

Skal Labissiere arrived at Kentucky believed to be destined for one of the top two picks in the 2016 NBA draft. He’s 6’11” with long arms (7’2″ wingspan) and a silky-smooth jumper. That sounded similar to Karl-Anthony Towns, who had become a can’t-miss prospect at Kentucky.

But after an underwhelming season in Lexington, Labissiere’s draft stock took a bigger hit than anyone else’s in college basketball, yet many mock drafts still have him in the lottery.

The promise of what Labissiere could become has not entirely disappeared, but a season on the college level revealed a long list of red flags.

Head coach John Calipari had the least amount of talent in the frontcourt that he’s ever had in Lexington, and still Labissiere was only able to get on the court 15.8 minutes per game.

There were sporadic moments where he flashed his potential, but for the most part it’s his pre-college reputation—which included carving up Towns at a summer event in 2013—that has him still in the first-round discussion.

“I’m dying to see [that video],” a scout told Bleacher Report. “I just want to see something good. You want to believe in the kid. He had one 18-point game [against LSU] later on in the season. I saw him play well and confident early in the year. But he wasn’t a kid that you felt like you need to draft him top-five this year.”

(There is indeed a video of the event, but it’s an edited mixtape.)

Relevant Stats

It takes some creativity to find any stats that make Labissiere look like an NBA prospect, but there is some promise inside his shot-blocking and shooting numbers.

Labissiere made 45.9 percent of his two-point jumpers, according to Hoop-Math.com, which led Kentucky and was one of the better marks for big men projected to go in the first round in the latest B/R mock draft.

Labissiere also had some of the best shot-blocking numbers (1.6 BPG) among that group of big men, but his rebounding (3.1 RPG) is at the other end of the spectrum, which is one reason he didn’t get consistent minutes.

Strengths

Labissiere could help himself during the predraft process. When it comes to fundamental skills, he’s an impressive player for his size and will likely perform well in individual workouts. He can definitely shoot, and he moves well for his size.

Labissiere was best at Kentucky in the pick-and-pop game. He was consistent as a jump-shooter, and while he didn’t make any threes all season, it’s conceivable that he’ll be able to extend his range over time.

On both ends, he is best in space. Defensively, he was effective as a help-side defender and has good timing as a shot-blocker. The entire package was on display in a game late in the year against LSU—a rare glimpse of what Labissiere could be when he played with confidence.

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Weaknesses

Labissiere ran into problems once Kentucky started facing real competition, and it was obvious the physicality of the game …

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