NBA Draft 2019: 3 major sleeper prospects with top 10 talent

Naz Reid

Moving right along to our 2nd topic of the discussion who is none other than LSU’s Naz Reid. He is also a skilled big man with one man fastbreak ability although not nearly as savvy or crafty yet as Jontay Porter. However, Naz has a much better body with his physical tools being his strength versus his weakness.

At 6’10 240 lbs, built like a Mack truck, his frame is as solid as they come. He already has an NBA ready body whereas Jontay went back to school after his freshman season mainly because of his body and conditioning. He uses more brute and although he isn’t exactly Zach Randolph, he certainly uses his size to impose his will on smaller defenders as evident in many of his games this past season.

Not to say he will be that good but his skill, size, and athleticism surely indicate a solid NBA floor if he displays even a marginal effort. Maybe not as talented as the other two guys to be mentioned in this piece but certainly a force to be reckoned with on his own when locked in. He has the potential to make a living in the NBA as a face-up scoring big with the ability to consistently make solid perimeter buckets and create shots for himself.

His hoops IQ and creating for others is where he falls short vs a visionary big like the other two guys mentioned in this article. He was a consensus lottery pick going into the season, but after such an underwhelming freshman campaign, some mocks have him going in the second round.

Some say his rebounding was disappointing but I beg to differ. Averaging over seven rebounds per game on an LSU team loaded with NBA prospects isn’t bad at all. Factor in the level of competition he faced in the SEC and the fact he was on the wing a lot as a face-up shot creating stretch and you have a pretty solid rebounding big all things considered. Naz not only pulled down over seven rebounds per game but also averaged 14 points on a loaded LSU team despite not having a very high usage rate.

I chalk that up to being underutilized by Coach Will Wade more than anything. He reminds me of Greg Monroe coming out of Georgetown except Naz is far more versatile. If he could become peak Greg Monroe on a consistent basis then he will make some lucky GM look like a genius.