With the projected 14th overall pick in this year’s NBA draft, the Chicago Bulls could have some giant-sized holes in their front court with the potential departures of Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah. Could a project like Michigan State’s Deyonta Davis fill a role?
He’s not exactly the super prospect that his semi-doppelganger was, but Michigan State forward Deyonta Davis rose up draft boards throughout this past season in East Lansing and looks like he could be a legitimate lottery selection in June for the 2016 NBA Draft.
The aforementioned semi-doppelganger of Davis — current New Orleans Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis (no relation) — was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft and has become one of the 10 best players in the entire league (when he’s healthy). Deyonta Davis hasn’t risen that high on draft prospect boards, but his stock is climbing and could be an option to consider for the Chicago Bulls with the 14th overall selection.
Davis, a 19-year-old, 6’9.5″ forward (in shoes, per DraftExpress in 2014), spent one season playing for the Michigan State Spartans with fellow draft prospect Denzel Valentine (who we’ve discuss here already). His numbers won’t pop off the page at you — 7.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game — but a 121.4 offensive rating, a 90.9 defensive rating and a 23.9 player efficiency rating will help his statistics profile.
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The key with a player like Davis is you’d be selecting him for his upside and potential. He’s nowhere near a finished product. In this past year, Davis took 199 shot attempts and only 18 of those attempts came outside of the painted area (with zero three-point attempts for the nation’s best three-point shooting team).
To use last year’s first-round draft pick Bobby Portis as an example for comparison, he’s not a polished offensive player. Most of his conversions on the offensive end came on dunks, putbacks, layups, etc. Portis came into the league after two years at Arkansas with more of a jump shot (63 three-point attempts in two seasons) and confidence in that jumper.
Davis did shoot 59.8 percent from the field in 35 games and rebounded 16.5 percent of the shots missed while he was on the floor this past year. That number would have likely been higher had Valentine not gone all “Mr. Triple Double” like the second coming of Magic Johnson for the Spartans.
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The thing that separates Davis from Portis — and makes him more like Anthony Davis other than their build and jersey number — is on the defensive end. Davis isn’t “The Brow” on the defensive end, but any time you see a 6’10”, 240-pound, 19-year-old with his length, you know there’s some potential to be a problem for opposing team’s offenses in the future.
Take this defensive possession against Maryland this season against Maryland’s Robert Carter. It’s a one-on-one look for Davis defensively and he does an excellent job of bodying Carter, not fouling and using his length to force an awful shot attempt from Carter (that of course, leads to a rebound from Valentine to start the break).
(There’s another play from MSU’s game against Kansas in Chicago this past November in this profile of Davis from J.Z. Mazlish of Upside and Motor that you should probably check out, too.)
In another meeting with Maryland during the Big Ten Tournament in March, Davis saved the game for the Spartans with a huge block on fellow draft entry Diamond Stone in a one-point game. Stone beat MSU’s Matt Costello into the lane off a post-up, but what was waiting had scouts soon drooling.
It was an isolation post-up for Stone, so on the other block, Carter was simply watching the play, allowing Davis to sag and protect the rim. Like Grant Hill mentioned on the replay of the block (it was certainly a legal one) in the video, the timing of Davis’ jump was perfect. Michigan State went on to win the game and the tournament, but this play was certainly the highlight of that final stretch.
Davis played the fifth-most amount of minutes (650 total minutes) for the Spartans this past year, but had as many blocks (64) than the next three players on the MSU roster combined.
He’s quick on his feet and quick to get off them as well. Davis can definitely be a guy to guard multiple positions at the next level with his mobility and length defensively.
To be clear, Deyonta Davis isn’t Anthony Davis. Browzilla (my personal nickname for him) and his game were light years ahead of the other Davis during his one season at Kentucky, but the similarities are there. It’s unlikely that Davis’ game will evolve like The Brow’s game did, but is there potential to grow? Absolutely.
A plus for Deyonta Davis as well: according to the official MSU roster page, Davis weighs in at 240 pounds. That’s much more of an NBA body than Anthony Davis had before he bulked up this past summer.
Next: Could the Bulls re-sign Joakim Noah to provide a jolt in ball movement offensively?
If the Bulls lose Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol to free agency this summer — which could happen — the Bulls could select a prospect in the works like Davis to provide more of a defensive threat with offensive-minded big men like Portis and Nikola Mirotic still around up front.