With draft season winding down, the another group of six came in Monday to show the Kings brass what they have to offer. Highlighting the group was a Matt Howard of the two time runner-up Butler Bulldogs and David Lighty of Ohio State. For the first time this draft season, all six players were seniors, which certainly helped the structured level of competition on the floor. Joining Howard and Lighty were guards D.J. Gay and Corey Fisher, swingman Gilbert Brown and the long armed Papa Dia.
Videos and analysis after the jump.
Guards
D.J. Gay – San Diego State
The Kings have brought in a boat load of point guards this draft season, many of which are probably not going to have their named called on Thursday evening. Gay is one of those players. But the Aztec guard can do one thing the Kings really like – shoot from the perimeter. As a senior, Gay hoisted up a whopping 204 three-pointers, knocking down 73 of them for a decent pretty 37.3%.
Measurements (No advanced measurements available- College only):
- Height: 6′-0″
- Weight: 170-pounds
Thoughts on D.J. Gay:
Gay was overshadowed by the interior play of Papa Dia. He did a fine job of feeding the big man but there was very little to really judge him on. Corey Fisher played Gay tight on defense and hit a few pull-up jumpers over him. There was no clear winner of the match-up but Fisher’s team did do a better job of moving the ball.
Corey Fisher – Villanova
The senior guard out of Villanova averaged 15.6 points and 4.8 assists his final year in college. He will be matched up against a Gay, in a battle of experienced point guards. Like Gay, Fisher shot a lot of three’s this past season (4.8 per game) but only shot 32.7% on those attempts.
Measurements:
- Height: 5′-11″ w/o shoes; N/A w/ shoes.
- Weight: 201-pounds; N/A body fat.
- Wingspan: 6′-3.5″
- Standing Reach: 7′-11.5″
Testing:
- Vertical: 28.0″ no step vert.; N/A max vert.
- Strength: N/A.
- Agility Drills: Lane agility- 11.90 seconds; 3/4 court sprint- 3.43 seconds.
Thoughts on Corey Fisher:
Fisher was a pleasant surprise Monday. For starters, he really resembles Kyle Lowry, another Wildcat guard, both physically and statistically. Fisher did a very nice job of playing alert defense, scanning the court continuously, while staying in front of his man. On the offensive end, Fisher has nice elevation on his stop-and-pop jumper and judging by his numbers as a junior (39.6% 3-pts), he might have better range than his senior numbers would make you believe.
Shooting Guards/Small Forwards
Gilbert Brown – Pittsburgh
Gilbert Brown is one of two senior wing defenders the Kings brought in for a look Monday. Brown didn’t exactly set the world on fire at Pitt offensively, but his 41.3% shooting from three point range stands out, as well as his nearly 7′-0″ wingspan. If the Kings either pass on Kawhi Leonard or he isn’t available at pick no. 7, the Kings might be in the market for a perimeter defender like Gilbert Brown.
Measurements:
- Height: 6′-4.5″ w/o shoes; N/A w/ shoes.
- Weight: 213-pounds; N/A body fat.
- Wingspan: 6′-11.5″
- Standing Reach: 8′-6.5″
Testing:
- Vertical: 31.0″ no step vert; N/A max vert.
- Strength: N/A.
- Agility Drills: Lane agility- 11.09 seconds; 3/4 court sprint- 3.32 seconds.
Thoughts on Gilbert Brown:
Similar to Gay, Brown didn’t really get much of a chance to shine Monday from what the media was allowed to view. Being on Papa Dia’s team didn’t help and neither did the fact that Brown was guarded by David Lighty, who looked very good. Brown’s wingspan is still very intriguing as well as his ability to shoot the three, making Brown an possible candidate for a post draft phone call.
David Lighty – Ohio State
Lighty is the second defensive minded wing on the docket Monday. The Ohio State product is a jack-of-all-trades defensive specialist, who shot nearly 43 percent from distance last season. Again, the Kings might be in the market for this type of player if they pass on Kawhi Leonard in the first round, as both Lighty and Brown project as Bruce Bowen type players. Besides defense and shooting ability, Lighty averaged 3.3 assists per game and put up an impressive 15 reps on the bench press at the combine.
Measurements:
- Height: 6′-4.75″ w/o shoes; 6’-6.5″ w/ shoes.
- Weight: 216-pounds; 6.5% body fat.
- Wingspan: 6′-8″
- Standing Reach: 8′-5″
Testing:
- Vertical: 28.5″ no step vert; 33.0″ max vert.
- Strength: 15 reps on the bench press (185-pounds).
- Agility Drills: Lane agility- 10.81 seconds; 3/4 court sprint- 3.25 seconds.
Thoughts on David Lighty:
This is exactly what the doctor ordered. Lighty was impressive both on and off the court. For two weeks, we have heard players talk about how they are leaders and Lighty walked in and showed us what a leader should look like. Voted a team captain as a sophomore at Ohio State, Lighty exudes charisma and instantly became the best interview I have seen so far this draft season. On the court, Lighty showed a lot of different looks and came across as a much better offensive player than the 12.1 points per game that he showed as a senior. Being a role player at the NBA level is about sacrificing part of yourself to make your team better, something David Lighty appears to have done at the college level.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4TIgUwMQJQ
Bigs
Matt Howard – Butler
College basketball needs players like Matt Howard. The senior power forward is coming off of back-to-back losses in the National Championship game as an extremely valuable member of the Butler Bulldogs. What Howard brings to the table is tough to quantify, but he is a winner and every team needs a hustle player like him.
Measurements (No advanced measurements available- College only):
- 6′-8″
- 225-pounds
Thoughts on Matt Howard:
Howard was as advertised – a player without a true position. Matched against the much bigger Papa Dia, Howard fought the good fight, tipped out a couple of rebounds and even blocked a shot off-the-ball. He also got his lunch handed to him on more than one play by the 230-plus pound left hander out of SMU. It’s tough to see where he fits in at the NBA level, but he was a great interview.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w98qhEM3Vs
Papa Dia – SMU
Papa Dia is an interesting prospect. Not projected to go in the draft, he has decent size (approximately 6′-9″ w/ shoes) and a huge 7′-2.5 wingspan. Unfortunately, we have no other advanced measurements or testing numbers on him. What we can see is major improvement across the board each and every season at SMU. As a senior, Dia averaged 18.3 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in nearly 34 minutes of play, not bad for the product of St. Louis Senegal.
Measurements:
- Height: 6′-7.5″ w/o shoes; N/A w/ shoes.
- Weight: 230-pounds; N/A body fat.
- Wingspan: 7′-2.5″
- Standing Reach: 8′-11.25″
No Testing Available.
Thoughts on Papa Dia:
Dia plays bigger than his 6′-9″ frame in a Jamaal Magloire kind-of-way. The big left hander seemed convinced that he was the star of the show and took advantage of the smaller Matt Howard on more than one occasion. Although he made a few nice moves, he often didn’t do the work to get deep enough in the post and settled for fall away jump hooks. While the opposing team used all three players in their offensive sets, Dia did very little to help his teammates get involved and Howard out hustled him on the glass big time.
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