Should the Celtics Draft Skal Labissiere?

Skal Labissiere was horrific in his one season at Kentucky, but could the Celtics develop him into the star many projected?

If you want to know how much hype surrounded Skal Labissiere entering his freshman season at Kentucky last season, then just know that he averaged 6.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in 15.8 minutes and still might be taken in the lottery this year. It’s taken a while but Labissiere’s stock has started to fall.

At the beginning of the draft process, he was projected to go as high as tenth overall to the Toronto Raptors, however, he has now started to fall just outside the lottery in most mock drafts. It’s still crazy to think that some team might take him in the first round, yet, it seems like a reasonable plan for the Boston Celtics.

The Celtics have more picks than they know what to do with this upcoming draft. They own three in the first round and five in the second, however, the likelihood that they keep more than three is slim. Boston is expected to be very busy leading up to and on draft night as they’ll try to move picks for established veterans.

If for some reason the Celtics were to keep the Dallas Mavericks, or their own, pick, could Skal Labissiere be on their radar?

Labissiere has no business even sniffing the second round, let alone the first round, this year. He was terrible. But the power of Kentucky and being a top recruit out of high school will do wonders. It has teams who have an established rotation looking at the 6’11” big man and wondering if they’d be able to develop him in the D-League and have themselves a star, or at least a serviceable big man, in a couple of seasons.

The Celtics are one of those teams who can afford to take on a project as their rotation is pretty much set. There are international players that won’t come over for a couple of seasons and projects in every draft, however, one with the untapped potential that Skal Labissiere holds is rare.

The problems for the power forward/center are there and glaring. In hindsight, it seems odd that he had so much hype surrounding him as most high schoolers near seven-feet tall are dominating. Labissiere does have one of the better mid-range shots for a player at his size, and his 66.1 field-throw percentage shows signs of potential. Although, at just 225 pounds, Labissiere is a twig and didn’t seem to gain any muscle over the course of the season.

He got pushed around inside all season and wouldn’t stand a chance against NBA-level players. It was a reason why he struggled grabbing rebounds the whole year, never grabbing double-digit boards in a game. In fact, in his first two games against Albany and NJIT, Labissiere only managed to grab 10 total rebounds in 51 minutes of action. He didn’t need to put up a 20-20 game, however, five rebounds against a mid-major team for a top prospect isn’t acceptable.

His minutes started to decrease as the season went on and he finished with eight games where he didn’t see 10 minutes. Part of that was his inability to score inside, part of it was his poor rebounding, however, his fouling problem was a major factor as well.

Labissiere fouled out five times during his freshman season and didn’t see 20 minutes of action in any of those games and less than fifteen in four of the five. He fouled out in as many games that he only committed one-foul (5) and he never had a zero-foul game. To put in perspective how bad it got, he averaged 7.6 fouls per 40 minutes. His lack of muscle got him bullied down low and forced him to grab arms to not give up an open shot.

It’s strange to think that he had a decent defensive season despite his lack of muscle and small frame. He averaged 1.6 blocks per game and 4.2 per 40 minutes, however, it wasn’t enough to get him minutes. He even recorded three games with at least five blocks, but when you’re a program like Kentucky, you have other big men who play good defense but contribute in other areas.

Labissiere was thrown into the fire with high expectations and he needed time to get used to the college speed and level of play. He did start to play a little better at the end of the season but he lost his spot in the starting lineup and fell near to the bottom of the rotation by then.

He did score 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting in 25 minutes against LSU near the end of the season. In the NCAA tournament, he was effective against Stony Brook – but at the same time, it’s Stony Brook. But that’s the level Skal Labissiere got to, where a decent – not good or great – game against a mid-major team was exciting. Sure, Stony Brook had Jameel Warney, but it’s still a tiny school and not a powerhouse like Kentucky.

Besides, he disappeared against Indiana in the second round, scoring four points on 2-of-6 shooting and grabbing five rebounds but committing three fouls.

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If for some reason Labissiere were to see time in the NBA next season, he would be eaten alive from what we witnessed during his time at Kentucky. It’s still the right choice for him to come out though because if he showed another season like that then he would fall off of every teams draft board, at least in the first round.

He still has the intrigue of a 6’11” power forward/center who could develop into a solid defensive player if given the right coaching and he gained some muscle. He is also very athletic, but still hasn’t figured out how to use it, and could have a solid offensive game if he developed a couple of post moves. His mid-range shot is there, but his interior game is nowhere near ready.

Whether Labissiere is going to be a bust or not is yet to be seen, however, the intrigue is still there. He’s only 20-years old and you can’t teach height.

Next: Boston Celtics Free Agent Target: Allen Crabbe

If the Celtics wanted to swing for the fences then drafting Labissiere in the mid-first round would be the way to go. Maybe he won’t ever develop and will spend his career overseas, or maybe he just needs time. Either way, the likelihood of Boston finding a player who can crack their rotation next season in the middle of the first round is slim, so going a developmental route may be the smart move.

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