Nerlens Noel (73 views)

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Nerlens Noel

C
6'11
215
19
Kentucky

Considered the No. 1 player on most draft boards, Nerlens Noel is one of the best shot blocking prospects to come into the NBA in recent years. He put up monstrous defensive numbers in Kentucky, with a 13.2 block percentage and 3.9 steal percentage on the season. Those numbers don’t even begin to capture the total impact of his defensive presence on any given game, as teams simply refuse to attack the rim with Noel on the floor. His quickness allows him to jump from player to player and put constant pressure on multiple opponents. Although he doesn’t have any jump shot or any real post moves, Noel’s athleticism alone allows him to score more than 10 points per game on dunks and layups. However, he’s a wiry big man with narrow shoulders who lacks the chance to ever match larger TMBSL centers in terms of size and strength.

This wouldn’t be an issue if he could drag them out of the paint and use his great lateral quickness to his advantage, but he can’t. His high center of gravity also will make establishing a deep post position difficult, and when he’s pushed out of the post he’s close to useless offensively. On the bright side, he did a decent job as a passer out of the high post this season, and is relatively strong on both sides of the glass compared to peers at his position.

His potential pre-injury was extremely high, and assuming he comes back at full strength, some scouts think that if his potential can translate into strength and scoring development, he could become efficient enough on the offensive end to truly allow his league-stopping defense to shine.