Scouting Report: Skal Labissière
- Tyler Probst
- Jun 24, 2016
- 2 min read
The Sacramento Kings selected Kentucky PF Skal Labissiere with the 28th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft after a trade with the Phoenix Suns that sent the Serbian SG Bogdan Bogdanovic, the 13th pick (Georgios Papagiannis), a 2020 2nd rounder, and of course the 28th pick to Sacramento in exchange for 8th pick Marquese Chriss.
The 7 foot 225 pound freshman at Kentucky had a pretty disappointing season averaging 6.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 1.6 BPG in 16 MPG in 36 games. UK Head Coach John Calipari has spoke highly of Labissiere and stated he has a great attitude and is a great teammate. Skal is 20 years old and was a projected top 15 pick on Draft Day but fell into the Kings hands at number 28.
Labissiere was in the conversation with Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram back in November but, his stock continued to fall throughout the year and some questioned if he was going to end up staying at Kentucky another year. Skal’s strengths include being quick and running well for his size, has a nice, smooth jumper, and is a good shot blocker with a lot of defensive potential. He certainly did not live up to the hype as a top 2 recruit coming out of High School but, he is only 20 and HC Dave Joerger can develop him into a good player. He will have to put on some weight because he will get pushed around by NBA defenses.
Skal Labissiere, being at Kentucky, is very familiar with DeMarcus Cousins and Willie Cauley-Stein and mentioned he has played pickup games with them a lot. He also said he met with the Kings at the NBA Combine in Chicago last month. Vlade Divac believes Skal is the steal of the draft at 28.
Although the Kings have a logjam of bigs, Skal is ready to learn and contribute right away. See new Kings PF Skal Labissiere in action during the Las Vegas Summer League beginning July 8th against the Toronto Raptors.
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