NBA Mock Draft 2016: Pro Comparisons for Top 30 Prospects

18. Cheick Diallo, Kansas Jayhawks

Ultimate Upside Comparison: Shawn Kemp

Safe Upside Comparison: Kenyon Martin

Position: Power Forward

Age: 19 (9/13/1996)

Height, Weight, Wingspan: 6’9″, 220 pounds, 7’4″

Slash Line: .574/.000/.545

Season Averages: 8.6 MPG, 3.7 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 0.7 ORPG, 0.8 BPG

How exactly does one make an upside comparison for a player who doesn’t have anything to show but his upside? Cheick Diallo has all of the physical tools to be a great player, but he’s as raw as they come fundamentally.

There isn’t much known about his game, but the one thing that’s understood is that Diallo’s ceiling is sky high.

Diallo has the physical gifts to be an elite player at any level; he’s 6’9″ and a muscular 220 pounds with an overwhelming 7’4″ wingspan. Those measurements are comparable to the likes of Kevin Durant, Derrick Favors, Taj Gibson, and Anthony Davis, who are all within an inch of his height.

Due to the raw nature of his game, it remains difficult to establish Diallo’s upside as anything but uncertain.

Athletically, he can run the floor and erupt at the rim for ferocious finishes above the rim. He has the potential to be a Kenyon Martin type, but with a player of his frame and athletic ability, the sky being the limit is not hyperbole.

It’s very ambitious, but given his explosiveness, touch around the basket, fluid running in transition, and ferocious above-the-rim finishing ability, Shawn Kemp is Diallo’s ultimate upside comparison.

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