Deyonta Davis is a man of few words and prefers to let his play do the talking.
The 6-foot-11, former Michigan State Spartan was in Denver Wednesday to meet with and work out in front of Nuggets personnel and try to improve his draft stock. He’s currently No. 14 on the BSN Big Board.
Davis is a defensive-first, athletic big who can move between the four and five spots at the next level and projects as both a rim protector and someone who can run the floor and finish in transition.
The 19-year-old only played 18.6 minutes per game at Michigan State, partly due to his age, and also because of the veteran roster coach Tom Izzo had at his disposal. In less than 20 minutes, Davis averaged 7.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks, superb number in limited playing time.
Davis’ calling card is his defense. The nearly two blocks per game he averaged last season is a testament to how well he can hold down the paint and his athletic ability gets him off the ground in a hurry. Davis not only has a great first jump but second jump as well, signs of perhaps an expert rim protector at the next level.
The Michigan native’s defensive prowess isn’t limited to around the basket. He’s also efficient at switching out onto smaller guard in the pick-and-roll and can contain them well. However, he’s seldom had the chance to show that ability in workouts.
“Most of the workouts I was doing, they didn’t have me trying to guard the smaller guard,” Davis said. “But I can do it.”
Big men need to be extremely versatile to stay on the floor in the league today and it’s almost imperative that they’re able to switch out onto smaller defenders at times. I asked Davis if he feels that’s one of his biggest strengths.
“Yeah,” he said.
On offense Davis is limited, but showed signs he’s capable of developing a workable post game. He’s able to go over his left shoulder from the block and has good lift and stable fundamentals on his post moves. He didn’t have time to stretch his jumper out to 3-point range in college but believes he’ll eventually get there. It’s one of the areas he’s been focusing on this summer at P3 Peak Performance in California.
“I’m working on my shot,” Davis said. “Just trying to get my all-around game tightened up.
Davis has good fundamentals on his jumper and touch around the rim, leading to a belief that he could eventually be a threat from deep.
“At Michigan State they really didn’t let the bigs shoot or get the ball outside the paint,” Davis told DraftExpress earlier this summer. “The whole season I only had two shots that I made outside the paint.”
Deyonta Davis here in Denver for an individual pre-draft workout this morning. pic.twitter.com/ExU7vUyxQF
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) June 15, 2016
Luwawu to workout Thursday
The Nuggets will bring in Timothe Luwawu for an individual workout Thursday morning, one of their final pre-draft workouts before the draft next week.
Luwawu, 21, played last season for Mega Leks in the Adriatic League and boasts a versatile skill-set that’s appealing to scouts. However, he wasn’t consistent and didn’t impress NBA personnel enough to garner talk of a top-10 selection. Luwawu is currently slotted as a fringe lottery or mid-first-round selection.
I profiled Luwawu as a part of my international prospect rundown here.
The 6-foot-7 wing with a 6-foot-11 wingspan projects as a plus defender but also has a promising jumper and developing in-between game. Luwawu is also an NBA-level athlete who the Nuggets should know well from the due diligence they do scouting in Europe.
Luwawu is a versatile offensive & defensive prospect who the Nuggets might be able to grab in the first or second round.
Credit: aba-liga.com
