Skal Labissiere

[Bricklayer]

The real thing is there is absolutely NO way in this draft that Skal should have been there at #28 for us to pick. So many low ceiling guys taken before him. And while he could be the pick that makes our draft, even we passed on him twice ourselves and were lucky he was still there by #28. I can only conclude the accolades for him were "soft" coming out of high school for people to so quickly abandon them. Harrison Barnes spent years proving he was not the next Jordan and still was taken in the lottery. Skal was 1 bad year removed from Top 5 pick projections, and we got him right on the cusp of the 2nd round.

 

[ockingsfan]

Well...I mean, I considered it maybe the single biggest red flag Skal had. Failing in college is fine by me -- I consider college a dubious predictor because of all the wacky and at times counterproductive systems used at various schools. But Calipari/Kentucky is obviously THE preeminent talent producing school in the country, and not only talent, big man talent. Calipari is Boogie and A.D. and Noel and WCS and KAT. If there is ANY coach who finds and maximizes his big men talent, its Calipari.

But perhaps not in Skal's case. I'm not sure why, but I guess even the great ones miss from time to time. They seem to have been pretty intent on making him a center, and maybe that was the mistake. Seems like there was a lost confidence spiral, they lost confidence in him, causing him to lose confidence in himself, causing them to lose confidence...etc. And for once Calipari may have missed on one here. We'll have to see. Still worried Zbo might break him, but the skillset is complete, and there was no sign of lack of compete in Vegas.

Calipari tried to make him a low post center and he is clearly not a center. He is more stretch 4 or long Small Forward.

Even Calipari admitted his mistake on Skal, trying to make him the next KAT or AD.

If Skal can develop his handles and can eventually play some 3. Could you imagine an all 7 foot front line of

PF: WCS
SF: Skal
C: DMC

OMG!!!

 

[kingsboi]

He was still on the board at 28 because he was terrible in Kentucky. He was getting dominated by their bigs. There's even times where he's been dominated by guards who backed him up...

His basketball skills are in question. He didn't show anything at Kentucky that would make you think he's a legit NBA basketball player.

He was barely able to stay on the floor. He was so bad to the point where he got benched by Calipari.
Lack of strength. Lack of feel for the game. Lack of defensive fundamentals. Lack of rebounding ability.

There's real reasons why he fell the way he did.

Question for you. Did he start last year for Kentucky?

 

[King Baller]

Skal La bossy air.

 

[Glenn]

The real thing is there is absolutely NO way in this draft that Skal should have been there at #28 for us to pick. So many low ceiling guys taken before him. And while he could be the pick that makes our draft, even we passed on him twice ourselves and were lucky he was still there by #28. I can only conclude the accolades for him were "soft" coming out of high school for people to so quickly abandon them. Harrison Barnes spent years proving he was not the next Jordan and still was taken in the lottery. Skal was 1 bad year removed from Top 5 pick projections, and we got him right on the cusp of the 2nd round.

It's funny that you present Skal as a lucky pick for us except the fact is that he IS a lucky pick. I wonder if Vlade ever saw him. If he didn't, that's a big mistake in my view. Any player who once was covered with major league hooplah is worth at least a peek by our GM. I think Vlade may be too centered on Europeans. Perhaps he should get a staff member skilled in Americans. I suppose that was poorly put but nobody drops from #1 to almost the second round without good reason and it is very possible that reason could be fixable. In this case, dragging Skal away from the paint may have shown him for what he is .... or isn't. He's not a center. Coach Cal has a hole in the way he views players. He's not perfect and in this case people quickly jumped to the conclusion that if a 7 footer can't play well at Kentucky, he may very well be no good. After all, Coach Cal is a genius with big men - a well deserved title. In this case he was wrong.

When I first saw him, I thought he was a 7 ft sf. My initial impression was that it was a waste of food and gym time to try to turn him into a Coach Cal center. Have him work on his outside game.

Ooooops! I just saw what I said had already been said.

 

[RussoTuristo]

It's funny that you present Skal as a lucky pick for us except the fact is that he IS a lucky pick. I wonder if Vlade ever saw him. If he didn't, that's a big mistake in my view. Any player who once was covered with major league hooplah is worth at least a peek by our GM. I think Vlade may be too centered on Europeans. Perhaps he should get a staff member skilled in Americans. I suppose that was poorly put but nobody drops from #1 to almost the second round without good reason and it is very possible that reason could be fixable. In this case, dragging Skal away from the paint may have shown him for what he is .... or isn't. He's not a center. Coach Cal has a hole in the way he views players. He's not perfect and in this case people quickly jumped to the conclusion that if a 7 footer can't play well at Kentucky, he may very well be no good. After all, Coach Cal is a genius with big men - a well deserved title. In this case he was wrong.

When I first saw him, I thought he was a 7 ft sf. My initial impression was that it was a waste of food and gym time to try to turn him into a Coach Cal center. Have him work on his outside game.

Ooooops! I just saw what I said had already been said.

I personally always believed that it was Mike Bratz's role. Obviously, I do not know it for sure, but IMO Malachi Richardson and Skal were Mike's picks. Big Papa and Bogdan were Vlade and Peja's guys.

 

[Chupacabra]

I look at Skal and I see the key to this teams future. He is a star player. It's too bad he is probably 2 years away from being physically ready. How did the entire league miss on him?!

 

[Glenn]

I personally always believed that it was Mike Bratz's role. Obviously, I do not know it for sure, but IMO Malachi Richardson and Skal were Mike's picks. Big Papa and Bogdan were Vlade and Peja's guys.

I agree about Bratz. I don't consider Skal as anyone's pick. Skal was the last man standing and every team whiffed on him including, as has been pointed out, the Kings with several picks. I'd love to hear why so many teams so quickly scratched him off their list. Coach Cal misplayed him and Skal's inability to play the game mistakenly asked of him, ended up being our good luck. Cal is a great recruiter but is not perfect as a coach. This is not a shot at Cal but more a shot at all the staffs who were so willing to rely on his judgment with with no question.

 

[New Era]

I look at Skal and I see the key to this teams future. He is a star player. It's too bad he is probably 2 years away from being physically ready. How did the entire league miss on him?!

While I do have excitement with this kid, I think we are all getting a little bit too worked up. 5 games of summer league does not guarantee that the entire league "missed" on him.

 

[Chupacabra]

While I do have excitement with this kid, I think we are all getting a little bit too worked up. 5 games of summer league does not guarantee that the entire league "missed" on him.

I got Cousins right after one summer league game. I pick winners. No big deal.

 

[lawlman91]

I would love for Skal to be able to play the 3 in certain situations and have WCS guard the opposing teams 3.

Cousins/Skal/WCS that length

 

[Blob]

The thing I like about Skal is he gets to open space and he's fairly comfortable catching anywhere on the floor. He has length and touch and good patience. He has bounce and confidence. Then there is the spin moves that are pretty incredible because spin moves at his size is where a player loses his balance or loses sight of the rim (see WCS), but to make spin move in traffic and keep your sight on the rim and launch a feathery shot speaks to his talent.

The main thing for Skal is increasing his strength and comfort handling the ball and dealing with the physicality of the game. Before summer league I said he could be a rotational player by picking his spots running the floor, weak side defending and getting hustle points. After SL I still think that is true with him also being able to provide instant offense off the bench against second stringers.

Coach Joerger has a play with his bigs coming off a weak side pick to catch the ball at the top of the key, not unlike Karl. This can be a good play for Skal....to launch the J against the little guy and drive on the big guy. It is exciting to have a player like Skal and the sky is the limit.

Now I want to address Papa.

The consternation on this board is uncalled for. Papa is a player. He's friggin huge with soft hands and makes Boogie look the size of Isaiah. Back in the day I loved Steven Adams based on his Pitt clips around the time Kings fans were dismissing my analysis as "white stiff guy" who was at best a mid to late first rounder. I actually projected Adams as the Kings pick since Pete at the time talked a lot about moving Boogie to 4. Adams could be a King if Ben would not have fallen.

Of course that whole draft is another story, since Pete and Mullin botched their analysis fooled by a guy with a "pretty" shot a la Ray Allen, but also having short arms, NO one-on-one juke moves, immaturity, and just a POOR feel for the game to move off the ball and get to open space. And dare I say Ben is TOO nice. You cannot be a serious player in this league when you are gentle as a kitten. How many times over three arduous seasons did Ben ever get into some sort of verbal or physical altercation with anyone, ref or player. The answer would be NEVER. And if you are NOT feisty every once and a while, you are NOT trying hard enough!

By contrast, Malachi Richardson shows more of a knack to make plays in tight space, to beat his man with a live dribble, and with length to make plays. And he projects as a better defender.

But I digress.

Papa is a BETTER prospect than Steven Adams. Why? Because he has better hands, better size and comparable skill set. Adams has better lateral quickness but Papa will improve on his lateral quickness once he gets lean and mean. On scale of 1-10, his body and conditioning is a 4. This can be perceived as positive or a negative. It is a negative if he does not work his butt off to go from a 4 to a 7-8 by opening night and over the next 2-3 months. Comparing his Euro clips to SL, he was in BETTER shape playing in Europe, quicker off his feet, faster changing ends.

He was lumbering in Las Vegas, and this hurt him offensively and defensively. I am not sure if this was injury related or whatever, but I am going to give him a pass based on age and circumstances.

The HUMBLING experience and lesson learned, which is you cannot just own the paint because of your size against players faster and better than you have competed against can be a positive in the long run. Papa has MORE maturity than Boogie did at same age, in fact, he may be more mature than Boogie is now. And this means he is likely to learn from this experience, recover from his injury, get himself into relatively great shape, and be ready to make a statement when training camp opens.

I still envision this guy as a stud, not quite sure what that will translate to in terms of production, but he projects as BETTER than Steven Adams, and he is ahead of Marc Gasol at similar age. With Vlade as his mentor, I don't see any reason why he can't be a future all-star. The number one thing is getting into elite shape. Then his size, hands, instincts and footwork will take over and he can dominate. Size and speed WITH skills wins. He has size and skills. Now he just needs to take advantage of these gifts.

 

[SacTownKid]

While I do have excitement with this kid, I think we are all getting a little bit too worked up. 5 games of summer league does not guarantee that the entire league "missed" on him.

True, but it's not like he was unknown prior to summer league. Skal was rated by some as the best prospect coming into college, and while there he was obviously not used for his scoring talents and he was asked to fill a role similar to Willie when he was there. I'd say there is great reason for hope from him offensively, and I think his willingness to bang and not shy away from contact improves his odds of one day being a success dramatically.

 

[Blob]

He's clearly a stretch 4, no question. He doesn't have the athleticism or ball skills to be a 3.

Presumptuous statement and premature conclusion.

 

[upinsmoke]

Calipari tried to make him a low post center and he is clearly not a center. He is more stretch 4 or long Small Forward.

Even Calipari admitted his mistake on Skal, trying to make him the next KAT or AD.

If Skal can develop his handles and can eventually play some 3. Could you imagine an all 7 foot front line of

PF: WCS
SF: Skal
C: DMC

OMG!!!

Cousins isn't a 7 footer just fyi thou.

 

[Kingster]

Solid interview from Vlade here, he talks about summer league (Skal, Papa) and free agency.

Vlade obviously embarrassed that the guy he picked last in first round is easily the best of the bunch and the guy he picked first is the worst. At least Vlade traded down to give himself more of an opportunity to be right with one of his picks.

 

[Kingster]

Any PF that can stretch the defense with his shooting is generally tagged as a stretch 4 even if that guy can do other things. KG doesn't fit the bill as a career 28% shooter from three who averaged less than half a long range attempt per game.

I think Skal will struggle to post up or score inside against NBA defenders so early on his value will come from his outside shooting. But I was pleasantly surprised to see him scrap for rebounds and initiate contact close to the basket.

Again, we can look at it as Skal being the end of the lottery pick and Papagiannis being the late 1st round project big.

To me it's fairly shocking that Skal posted in the summer league as well as he did, given his lack of strength. It shows you he really has an excellent touch that can compensate for not being completely balanced. As he gets stronger, it's hard to see him not being good close to the basket.

 

[whozit]

Vlade obviously embarrassed that the guy he picked last in first round is easily the best of the bunch and the guy he picked first is the worst. At least Vlade traded down to give himself more of an opportunity to be right with one of his picks.

Wow. 'Obviously embarrassed.' That is what you got from that interview? He addressed some of Papa's challenges but to go from that to 'obviously embarrassed' is a stretch. Skal may very well turn out to be the best of the three, but so what? If the other two turn out to be serviceable and Skal is even better then great. Nothing to be remotely embarrassed about, nervous maybe. Time will tell.

 

[Kingster]

Wow. 'Obviously embarrassed.' That is what you got from that interview? He addressed some of Papa's challenges but to go from that to 'obviously embarrassed' is a stretch. Skal may very well turn out to be the best of the three, but so what? If the other two turn out to be serviceable and Skal is even better then great. Nothing to be remotely embarrassed about, nervous maybe. Time will tell.

Heck yeah! Note the body language cues. First, it's the use of the word, "frankly", then it's the embarrassed scratching of the head. He's putting the lipstick on Papa. Most likely will be doing this over the next few years.

 

[Dime Dropper]

Heck yeah! Note the body language cues. First, it's the use of the word, "frankly", then it's the embarrassed scratching of the head. He's putting the lipstick on Papa. Most likely will be doing this over the next few years.

I felt embarrassed just reading this.

 

[206Fan]

Question for you. Did he start last year for Kentucky?

Yes he did. He was benched and had his minutes reduced by a ton after vastly underperforming.

 

[whozit]

Heck yeah! Note the body language cues. First, it's the use of the word, "frankly", then it's the embarrassed scratching of the head. He's putting the lipstick on Papa. Most likely will be doing this over the next few years.

Interesting how two people can see and hear the same thing and come up with totally different conclusions. You saw 'obviously embarrassed' and I saw constructive criticism. Part of being human.

I do think Vlade didn't do the young man any favors by building him up after he was drafted. Raised the bar too high setting unnecessary expectations.

 

[bajaden]

Hey, if Big Papa got one, after what we saw in Summer League, Skal definitely deserves one.

Projected to be a Top 5 pick before last season began...what if that's actually what he was? He's looked better than Chriss, or for that matter, Bender, in SL.

C? PF? SF? I vote stretch 4 with both 3pt range and post up ability. In fact if Rudy is traded, the 2nd most post up ability on the team after Cuz.

I'm a little late to this party since I got back from Las Vegas last night. But, I saw Skal play all five games up close and personal. So, having seen him play at Kentucky, I must admit that I was surprised. I didn't expect much, so that contrasted what I saw beautifully. He is very good, and if I was to base his ranking on his summer league performance against those who were drafted higher, he would easily be a top five pick. I can safely say that the only two players that were consistently better than him were Simmons and Dunn, and Simmons refuses to shoot the ball. Ingram had a couple of decent to good games, but was downright horrible in a couple as well. Murray can't shoot off the dribble, and Hield, while good, was more inconsistent.

What I liked the most was Skal's demeanor on the court. He never appeared panicked or lost. He always seemed to know where to be on the court. He's a far better ball handler than I thought, and he really surprised me with his touch and moves around the basket. He's one of those quietly smooth efficient players. No comparison coming just yet. However, it's just summer league, and one has to remember that. Of course it's better to excel than not to, but there's no guarantee it will carry over to the real world of the NBA.

On that note, I doubt that his efficiency around the basket will immediately translate. He needs to get much stronger or he'll get bullied out of the paint. That said, he's a good outside shooter, and that alone will get him minutes on the court. His ability to handle the ball will help him pick his spots to attack the basket. In short, in a couple of years, the Kings could have something special with him. As a matter of fact, at this point, I'd be surprised if they didn't.

 

[bajaden]

Skal is extremely talented, but I have a feeling he won't be able to contribute for a few years. Unless we decide to rebuild and tank, I don't see anyway how Skal gets more than 10mpg. Raw on both ends right now. However, his jumper is the most NBA ready tool he has. Him having a jumper does not mean he can play the 3...

I know Skal is athletic, but he's not Marquese Chriss type of athletic.. there's no way he can guard SFs... SFs are way too fast and mobile for him. The bigger SFs will post him up easily. Putting him at SF is a recipe for disaster. He's a natural PF.

You throw the word raw around a bit too much for my taste. Not sure what you mean by raw, but to me it means a very athletically skilled player that lacks the necessary basketball skills. Skal doesn't lack the necessary basketball skills. He can shoot, he can pass, he has very good handles, and he has a very good intelligent feel for the game. That my friend, is not raw. It may add up to not being totally ready, but not raw. What Skal needs is about 20 pounds of muscle, and NBA experience. I think that Vlade plans on him acquiring both. How many minutes he gets is up to him. If he's better than anyone else at that position, then he'll get minutes. It's that simple. If not, he won't.

I agree with you that SF isn't Skals best position, but on occasion he can play there depending on who is on the floor with him. Chriss is a better athlete, but right now, today, Skal is a better player, and I wouldn't trade Skal for Chriss. Tomorrow, who knows.

 

[bajaden]

The real thing is there is absolutely NO way in this draft that Skal should have been there at #28 for us to pick. So many low ceiling guys taken before him. And while he could be the pick that makes our draft, even we passed on him twice ourselves and were lucky he was still there by #28. I can only conclude the accolades for him were "soft" coming out of high school for people to so quickly abandon them. Harrison Barnes spent years proving he was not the next Jordan and still was taken in the lottery. Skal was 1 bad year removed from Top 5 pick projections, and we got him right on the cusp of the 2nd round.

Well the Kings needed a little good luck and finally got it. I saw every game Skal played at Kentucky, and he had one good game, and that one good game was outstanding. It made you wonder what happened the rest of the year. Frankly, I think Calapari played Skal out of position all year. He simply wasn't strong enough to play consistently in the post, and yet, that's where he was. He has almost the exact same skill set as Karl Towns. Unfortunately, he doesn't have Towns body. I think Calapari saw his skill set, and tried to make him Towns replacement. However, what go lost in the shuffle, was the skill set. He's a very talented player who simply needs to get stronger. Calapari ended up doing the Kings a favor. Get him in the weight room and feed him lots of twinkies.

 

[bajaden]

Interesting how two people can see and hear the same thing and come up with totally different conclusions. You saw 'obviously embarrassed' and I saw constructive criticism. Part of being human.

I do think Vlade didn't do the young man any favors by building him up after he was drafted. Raised the bar too high setting unnecessary expectations.

I agree with you that Vlade definitely shouldn't have compared him to Marc Gasol. That was a disservice. Big Papa is a few years away from being anything more than a backup garbage player. It's almost painful to watch him post up. He has some very bad habits, like thinking he has to put the ball on the floor before passing. He also brings the ball down to his waist instead of keeping up in the 7'2"area. He's very mechanical on the offensive side of the ball. Defensively, he's better. At least instinctively. He has decent mobility for his size, but obviously not in NBA shape. I'll attribute that to ignorance.

I think what we need to remember, is that he's very young, and has years to hone his craft. With the bigs we have on the team, there's no need to rush him into service. I think the rub for most is where we drafted him, and I understand that. Frankly, I was surprised as well. But what's done is done, and so, if you want to feel better, just move him to the 28th spot, and Skal to the 13th. See if that works for you.

 

[206Fan]

You throw the word raw around a bit too much for my taste. Not sure what you mean by raw, but to me it means a very athletically skilled player that lacks the necessary basketball skills. Skal doesn't lack the necessary basketball skills. He can shoot, he can pass, he has very good handles, and he has a very good intelligent feel for the game. That my friend, is not raw. It may add up to not being totally ready, but not raw. What Skal needs is about 20 pounds of muscle, and NBA experience. I think that Vlade plans on him acquiring both. How many minutes he gets is up to him. If he's better than anyone else at that position, then he'll get minutes. It's that simple. If not, he won't.

I agree with you that SF isn't Skals best position, but on occasion he can play there depending on who is on the floor with him. Chriss is a better athlete, but right now, today, Skal is a better player, and I wouldn't trade Skal for Chriss. Tomorrow, who knows.

He's raw in terms of his overall size. Very frail for a 6'11 player and weighs only around 216lbs? I think he'll probably need to correct his posture a bit. Bends down his head a lot, but I think this is a simple fix with NBA trainers. I also meant that he was raw in terms that he has tools, but he lacks the ability to put them together and actually use it. I can't throw away the entire year of him at Kentucky where he struggled at times to grasp the offense, and even more on defense. Showed awareness, but no fundamentals. That's what I meant by raw.

Aside from his shooting and nice hook shot, the rest of his offensive game is undeveloped. He's not going to be strong enough to back NBA defenders into the post. I know people rave about his ball handling ability, but I think it's a work in progress. He certainly handles the ball a lot better than most PFs do, but I wouldn't really say it's a strength of his at this time yet. I think his decision making and reaction time is pretty solid, unlike Papagiannis who will need a lot of help there.

Skal flashed a lot in SL, and I knew he would because of his jumper. Easily the most translatable skillset into the NBA. Was really impressed by how he was able to get into the paint and get the shots he wanted. Of course it'll be a different story in the NBA, but seeing him being able to do these things in the SL is refreshing.

A bit off topic since you did see the Kings in SL. Did Papagiannis look as slow and unathletic as he did on tv? For someone 7'2 260+lbs, he also didn't look as strong as you'd hope.

 

[whozit]

I agree with you that Vlade definitely shouldn't have compared him to Marc Gasol. That was a disservice. Big Papa is a few years away from being anything more than a backup garbage player. It's almost painful to watch him post up. He has some very bad habits, like thinking he has to put the ball on the floor before passing. He also brings the ball down to his waist instead of keeping up in the 7'2"area. He's very mechanical on the offensive side of the ball. Defensively, he's better. At least instinctively. He has decent mobility for his size, but obviously not in NBA shape. I'll attribute that to ignorance.

I think what we need to remember, is that he's very young, and has years to hone his craft. With the bigs we have on the team, there's no need to rush him into service. I think the rub for most is where we drafted him, and I understand that. Frankly, I was surprised as well. But what's done is done, and so, if you want to feel better, just move him to the 28th spot, and Skal to the 13th. See if that works for you.

Actually, I don't care about where he was drafted. I like what I think it was Petrie who said something along the line "He's a King until he's not a King." I'm hoping all three have successful careers as Kings players.

 

[twslam07]

I know people rave about his ball handling ability, but I think it's a work in progress. He certainly handles the ball a lot better than most PFs do, but I wouldn't really say it's a strength of his at this time yet.

Had to highlight this point as it seems you contradicted yourself. Handling the ball better than most PFs most certainly makes it a strength of his.

 

[206Fan]

Had to highlight this point as it seems you contradicted yourself. Handling the ball better than most PFs most certainly makes it a strength of his.

PFs aren't ball handlers. Skal can handle the ball a little bit. I still wouldn't call it a strength of his. If you want to look at a PF who's strength is ball handling... that's Giannis. Skal is nowhere near Giannis.