#23 Portland: Kevon Looney (PF; Fr; UCLA)

Birthday: 2/6/96

NBA Position: Power Forward

Class: Freshman

Ht: 6-9

Wt: 222

Hometown: Milwaukee, WI

High School: Milwaukee Hamilton

NBA Comparison: Al-Farouq Aminu

Notes: 6'8.5 (in shoes) 183 lbs, with a 7'1 wingspan at the 2012 LeBron James Skills Academy

Strengths: 

Talented forward with great physical attributes, who can be a very difficult match-up … Great instincts and aggressiveness as a rebounder, attacks the ball high and is dangerous on the offensive glass … High release on his shot, with potential to stretch his range … Shows potential to be efficient on the pick-and-roll, as well as the pick-and-pop … Unselfish player, has shown vision when in one-on-one situations … Length gives him potential as a defender, and he has been tough to shoot over when focused … Has to be accounted for as a shooting threat from the mid-range, plus has the ability to use the dribble on run outs … Becoming more confident as a cutter as his freshman season has progressed, getting used to being a threat playing without the ball … Relegated to thsolely playing PF due to his team's lack of depth upfront, he has shown some ability as a wing. Although he's a likely 4 for the NBA level … Gets to the line at a solid rate, aggressive even given his lanky frame at this point in time … Averaging over a block and a steal per game, his activity on defense is an encouraging sign regarding his future development … Effort and competitiveness have been solid during his freshman season ...

Weaknesses:

Will need to add upper body strength if he hopes to find the same success rebounding at the next level … A vast majority of his offense comes from offensive rebounds, so he will need to refine his skills and find other ways to score consistently … Has a slow, methodical release, and thus players can quickly close out on him leading to inconsistency shooting the ball … Not incredibly quick laterally, has a hard time guarding perimeter players once they commit to the dribble … Has been good around the rim, though still not as efficient as one might hope, which again points to lack of strength … For a player who moves as well as he does for his size, has not been overly efficient in transition … Rarely goes to his off-hand, needs a lot of work on his left … Foul trouble has been an issue, partly from playing out of position, though focus on defense has also been an issue … The "tweener" label may apply to him, needs to refine his skills and show more consistency as an overall perimeter player, while at the same time needing to gain strength while hopefully developing more of a traditional post game if he wants to excel as a PF

Notes: 

Leading the nation's freshmen in rebounding, while establishing himself as one of his team's most consistent performers throughout the season … One of the more versatile players in this draft, with measurements that are above average for a PF, in terms of length and standing reach … Played PG in high school, has potential as far as developing face up skills, even if he is not a major standout as far as his lateral movement … Great assertiveness and nose for the ball, should be something that carries over and helps him fight with bigger players at the next level … With his desirable attributes and production, seems to have a possibility of cracking the lottery ...