2017 NBA Mock Draft, Week 25: Lakers at No. 1, Knicks at No. 2
By Chris Stone
Justin Patton
C, Creighton
The college basketball world saw two versions of Creighton’s Justin Patton this season. The first version was the one that caught the eye of draft analysts across the internet. With point guard Maurice Watson Jr. on the floor, Patton was a terror. He runs the floor tremendously well for a big man, excels playing in pick-and-roll and has enough post moves to make switching onto him a dangerous option for a defense. The second version — after Watson suffered a torn ACL — was much different. Patton lost some of that offensive punch without a point guard setting the table and was unable to carry the load himself.
While Patton will benefit from theoretically having good point guard play in the NBA, there are some concerns about what we saw from him later in the season. He struggled mightily against stronger opponents even when he was taller than them. Those troubles happened on the low block on offense and on the boards on defense. It’s also not clear how well Patton will translate as a rim protector. There isn’t a reliable wingspan measurement available for him yet, but he was far from the dominant shot blocker that you would expect a high profile center prospect to be.
That said, Patton would be a perfectly serviceable back up for the Utah Jazz, a team that is badly in need of someone who can fill in when Rudy Gobert hits the bench. Patton should at least be a serviceable rim protector and be able to handle all of the dump offs and alley-oops that come his way.