Heading into what could be a make or break season for him, Skal Labissiere is going to have to put together a more well-rounded season if he wants to remain with the Sacramento Kings.
Skal Labissiere has seen it all thus far into his NBA career with the Sacramento Kings. From the highs of a 32-point outburst following the trade of DeMarcus Cousins in March 2017, to fighting for playing time and being buried on the bench for most of the 2017-18 season.
He has certainly been through it all in just 2 years in the league, but last season appeared to have more bad than good for Skal.
He is coming off of a pretty uneven campaign for the Sacramento Kings last season. He averaged 8.7 points and 4.8 rebounds a game in over 20 minutes per game. His scoring and rebounding averages both dropped from the 2016-17 season, albeit only by .1 per game.
Regardless, that dip is still disconcerting considering he had more playing time this season than he did his rookie year.
The biggest concern regarding Labissiere’s play last season has to be the 8.9 percent drop in his shooting percentages from 53.7 in 2016-17 all the way to 44.8 percent in 2017-18. Not only that, but Skal struggled mightily on the defensive end, finishing the season no better than 63rd in all major defensive categories.
There’s certainly plenty for Skal to work on this season but let’s try and narrow it down and give him 3 goals for the 2018-19 campaign.
Shoot over 50 percent from the field
Skal took more shots last season than he did his rookie year, shooting 1 more time per game. An extra shot per game should necessitate an 8.9 percent drop in his shooting percentage. That, is where he needs to improve this season.
While asking him to shoot near the 53.7 percent he did in 2016-17 might be asking a bit much, but an improvement to near that coveted 50 percent line should be within the realm of possibility. If Skal can do that, it could go a long way towards him proving he belongs in the NBA. A 6 percentage point bump would also lead to Skal scoring more too.
The jury is still out on whether or not he’s still part of the Sacramento Kings’ future, but a season shooting north of 50 percent as well as more than 10 points per game would go a long way with the Kings front office.
Even if he can’t hit that 50 percent mark, he needs to figure out a way to be a more efficient scorer. If he can get to around 48 percent from the field, that could be sufficient.
One of the biggest predictors of a good shooting is free throw percentage and Skal upped his free-throw percentage 10 points last season, even in the midst of a less than stellar shooting campaign.
If he can keep those free-throw numbers and manage to rebound from a tough shooting year, 2018-19 could be a breakout year for the 3rd-year big from Kentucky.
Up the rebounding numbers
Skal Labissiere is a 6-11 power forward and averaged under 5 rebounds in 20 minutes per game. That, quite simply, won’t do. The advanced numbers don’t paint a nicer picture either.
Last season Skal ranked 95th in the NBA in defensive rebound percentage, 45th in offensive rebounding percentage and 72nd in overall rebound percentage. Now, a lot of that can be attributed to Skal not being strong enough to battle for boards, but there’s clearly room for improvement there.
Labissiere looks noticeably bigger this offseason, so we’ll see if a lack of strength was truly the case or not. Regardless, he should be looking to average at least 5 rebounds per game but even that seems too low for him.
A better target would be around 7-8 rebounds per game, something that would give him plenty of leverage in contract talks.
A 3-4 rebound per game jump might seem high, but if the weight gain he’s showing off is legit it might not be as tall of a task as it seems. Not only that, but he is heading into his 3rd year in the league. With that, his basketball IQ should increase and he should be able to better position himself to grab rebounds.
Couple a stronger frame with an increased intelligence when it comes to rebounding positions and he could be primed for big year on the glass.
Finally, become a better defender
One of the biggest knocks on Labissiere during the draft process was his defense, or lack thereof. Last season, Skal was 265th in the NBA in defensive rating, posting a mark of 108.8.
Now, this isn’t to say Skal needs to become an All-NBA level defensive talent, rather he just needs to be average. A jump to around a 105 defensive rating is reasonable, and would put him in that ‘average’ tier.
A less substantial jump could also be mitigated by improvement on the offensive end as well and it’s important to keep that in mind. If Skal only makes marginal improvements on that end of the floor, it won’t matter if he’s able to put up 10-15 points per game at an efficient shooting clip.
While a lot of the issues with Skal’s game are those that have been noted since his college days, so too are all the things that had him projected as a top-pick at one point.
It’s important to remember that he is still very young too. At only 22 years old, there’s plenty of time for him to get better and adjust to the game more. The only issue is that if he can’t make sizable improvement now, or at least before the end of the 2019-20 season, he may not be in Sacramento when he does finally breakout.