Age: 19 years old
Measurements: 229 pounds, 6’10” (w/o shoes), 7’3″ wingspan, 9’3.5″ standing reach
34 games, 25.5 MPG, 12.9 PPG on 68.4 percent shooting, 6.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game
I mentioned during last year’s lead up to the draft that Michigan State’s Deyonta Davis was cut from that Anthony Davis-type cloth heading into the 2016 draft. Creighton’s Justin Patton was another piece cut from that cloth.
Not only do all three players have similar body types and the same jersey number, all three left college as raw, but promising prospects. Anthony has become one of the world’s best players when he’s healthy, while Deyonta didn’t quite get off the ground after taking a big tumble in last year’s draft.
As for Patton, the almost-seven-footer had a really good year for the fightin’ Doug McDermotts, shooting over 68 percent from the field and almost averaging a block and a steal per contest.
What to like:
The NBA continues to evolve and so do the big men entering the league. Davis has become a nuclear weapon in New Orleans as a dominant player on both ends of the floor. Other bigs like Karl-Anthony Towns and Nikola Jokic are rising rapidly among the player ranks in the NBA.
This isn’t saying that Patton’s there already because he’s not, but the potential there for him to be a star as a five-man in the NBA. He runs the floor well in transition (1.47 PPP in transition, per DX through Synergy) and has the length to block shots, alter the trajectory of shots and jump passing lanes. He’s a fun athlete for his size.