NBA Mock Draft Pick #15 - Sekou Doumbouya, Forward, France
SB Nation’s Detroit Pistons blog Detroit Bad Boys explains the pick:
At this point in the draft, it was time to swing for the fences. The Pistons war room was stuck on two prospects -- Kevin Porter Jr or Sekou Doumbouya. So why the raw Sekou instead of the highly touted Porter, with all his scoring and playmaking potential? There a few things that were irresistibly intriguing about Doumbouya. First, he is the youngest play in the draft and feels like he has a vast a mount of untapped potential. Not just developing his skills but physically -- his height, his strength, his quickness could all get a boost in the next year.
He’s also the kind of versatile defensive presence that the Pistons are desperate for and fit perfectly in the modern NBA. a 6-foot-9 forward with the ability to switch, close out, run the floor and block shots. He could reasonably guard four positions when it’s all said and done. That’s exciting for a team that trotted out a series of 6-foot-6 guards and called them small forwards for much of the past year. He also is adept at stealing the ball at the upper levels of France’s professional league, which portends good things, and while his offensive and jump shot is a work in progress, many tout his solid mechanics and quality rotation on his ball. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, his work ethic seems to be unmatched in this draft class. And wanting to be great counts for a hell of a lot