Position: C
Age on draft night: 20
Height: 6 ft 10 in
Wingspan: 7 ft 2 in
Weight: 235 lbs
The Sales Pitch: Missi is a physical marvel, despite being a young freshman center. He has an NBA body that might get even stronger. As a result, he has elite athleticism. In terms of skills, though primarily a play finisher, he has already shown flashes of being able to use his agility to make one or two dribble drives followed by layups, fakes, and power dunks. The athleticism and size also give him a floor of a prototypical rim runner and rim protector, as well as a menace on the glass. If a coach can coax some finesse out of his defense, or a tiny bit of scoring or passing skill on offense, he’ll blow through his perceived ceiling. Daniel Gafford and Mitchell Robinson’s playoff successes show there’s still a place for great-at-fundamentals defensive 5s in the NBA.
Questions about their projection: He’s not particularly skilled, can’t really shoot, and does not pass. So do the other center skills – anchoring a defense, rim running, and rebounding – rise to the level of truly elite to justify taking a less skilled big? In the first round, in 2024? Daniel Gafford and Mitchell Robinson were both had in the second round, after all, and for every one of those guys there’s a skilled Myles Turner, Naz Reid, Al Horford, or Isaiah Hartenstein you can point to.
Important Stats:
61% FG%. Good!
62% FT%. Bad!
7.3 BLK%, 1.3 STL%
14.6 OREB% — a ridiculously high number
BPM of 7.4 — great for a freshman
FTR .605 — it means when he went up for a shot, more likely than not he was getting fouled. A very high number
AST%: 3.4. Dude never passes
✍️ Prezidente of The Strickland
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by TheStrickland
2 Comments
Wow he sounds like a prototypical Thibs big.
His free throw percentage is twice what Mitch’s is