2016 NBA Mock Draft: Brandon Ingram is the New Number One Pick

Skal Labissiere. 15. player. 73. Denver is in the unique position where they can afford to take on multiple projects with their three NBA Draft picks, so while they’ve already made the move for Brown in this draft, it might not be a surprise to see them also take Labissiere. In Denver, Labissiere could get development time before he sees the floor, and he’d fit well next to Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic to give the Nuggets frontcourt depth. <p>Labissiere couldn’t stay on the floor in college, as he struggled with foul trouble and spacing awareness on offense that limited his playing time. When he was on the floor though, his production was solid, as he averaged 16.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 4.2 blocks per 40 minutes. Labissiere’s biggest hurdles to NBA playing time will be his frame (6’11”, just 225 pounds) and that discipline on defense. Fortunately, Labissiere is fairly new to basketball, and that means that he should be able to build up strength and become more aware on defense in order to make use of his offensive talents.</p> <p>On that end, Labissiere has more of the tools that made him a top-5 prospect coming into the college basketball season. His face-up game is promising, as Labissiere has the quickness and length to beat opponents off the dribble or pull up for a 15-18-footer. He was able to get some experience operating in the pick-and-pop with Tyler Ulis late in the season at Kentucky, and that could end up being his primary value on offense in the NBA. Labissiere should also be a useful shot-blocker at the next level, even though he needs to develop his timing to better avoid foul trouble. There are still reasons to be excited for Labissiere, and his inexperience may mean that he has more room to grow than other projects around this stage of the draft.</p> <p><em>To learn more about Skal Labissiere, <a href=. PF. Kentucky