A Royal Pain
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Is Skal Labissiere Still A Part Of The Sacramento Kings’ Future?

By Jonathan Roberts

SACRAMENTO, CA - MARCH 31: Skal Labissiere #7 of the Sacramento Kings looks on during the game against the Golden State Warriors on March 31, 2018 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA - MARCH 31: Skal Labissiere #7 of the Sacramento Kings looks on during the game against the Golden State Warriors on March 31, 2018 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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MIAMI, FL – NOVEMBER 27: Skal Labissiere #1 of the Kentucky Wildcats calls for the ball during second half action against the South Florida Bulls on November 27, 2015 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. Kentucky defeated South Florida 84-63. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL – NOVEMBER 27: Skal Labissiere #1 of the Kentucky Wildcats calls for the ball during second half action against the South Florida Bulls on November 27, 2015 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. Kentucky defeated South Florida 84-63. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images) /

Why his draft stock fell

Skal’s fall can be summarized in just a few words: physicality and decision making. His issues with rebounding and reaction time surfaced pretty quickly while at Kentucky. At times, he looked a step slow. It was almost as if things were moving at a different pace for his opponents and teammates than for him. He struggled to get rebounds as a result of both slow reaction times and a general inability to get himself into a good position to grab those boards.

He also struggled with foul issues, though that is usually not a big red flag for young big men. What is a big red flag, however, is a big who cannot react to the ball effectively. It is also compounded when a player just looks wholly unfit to be an NBA-level contributor coming out of college (granted he was only there for one season). Physical strength (for obvious reasons) is hugely important for big men in the NBA. That is something Labissiere just did not have. That does not mean I would challenge him to a bench press competition, especially not when he is looking like he has added a lot of weight (more on that later). But compared to other NBA bigs, the physicality just was not there.

https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/1032335196916334592

It is especially troublesome because many of the issues that plagued him in college are still present two years later. Of course with that, many of the things that made him a potential top pick remain too.

Skal still has the high shot release, he is still incredibly tall and long, and most notably, he is still a very capable shot blocker. For example, Labissiere’s block percentage, sitting at a solid 42.2%, is just slightly lower than that of Karl Anthony-Towns and higher than that of Kawhi Leonard and DeMarcus Cousins (note: both Leonard and Cousins were injured this season so it is a small sample size). His blocks per game were just under one per game (0.8) which was good enough to be tied 58th in the league last season.

Now that some background is out of the way…

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