2017 NBA Mock Draft: The 76ers lock up a point guard

The Atlanta Hawks are eventually going to need to find a replacement for Dwight Howard at the center spot, so snagging one of the many available bigs at No. 19 and grooming him to be that potential replacement makes a lot of sense for the franchise. At this point, the best center left on the board is Creighton’s Justin Patton, a prospect who was ranked near the lottery early in the season when he shined with a healthy Maurice Watson Jr. prior to the point guard’s season-ending injury.

Patton has good mobility for a big man, which manifests itself with his rim running in transition. The 7-footer does a nice job if finding position on the low block after running the floor and he’s plenty capable of catching alley-oops on the run as well. Patton’s footwork also showed up in the halfcourt as a dive man out of the pick-and-roll. He even occasionally flashed a good compliment of post moves that he can use to attack switches in the NBA.

Patton’s defensive ceiling is a bit of a question mark as he doesn’t have elite length and averaged a solid 2.3 blocks per 40 minutes in college. If he had better athleticism or longer arms, there would be a higher chance that that number could translate. Still, Patton should provide some resistance at the rim and he can slide laterally a bit on the perimeter. That’s enough to make him worthy of the first round selection.

Learn more about Justin Patton at The Step Back.