NBA Draft Profiles: Khem Birch

Khem Birch could be a potential late round pick if the Pelicans can work their way into the NBA Draft next week. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

With news that the Pelicans are looking to trade into the NBA Draft coming this weekend to grab a small forward or center plenty of questions have been raised about the plan of the front office. Out of all of them though the most important seems to be which player, or players, have caught the eye of the front office enough to cause them to try to work themselves back into a pick. Instead of trying to guess exactly the player, Pelican Debrief has decided to just break down 18 small forwards and centers leading up to draft day (two reports will be posted daily) so that Pelicans fans will be ready no matter where or when the team trades into the draft and selects a player. 

After looking at Duke small forward Rodney Hood this morning we shift again back to big men with UNLV junior Khem Birch. At UNLV Birch was a power forward who saw a ton of minutes at center, though in the NBA he probably translates to just a power forward due to his size.

The Basics:

Age: 21

College: UNLV

Height: 6’9″

Weight: 209 lbs

Wingspan: 7’1″

Standing Reach:  8’11”

Max Vert: 35.5

Draft Projections: Late Second Round to Undrafted

Stats: 31.4 MPG, 11.5 PPG, 51 FG%, 69.3 FT%, 10.2 RPG, 4.0 ORPG, 3.8 BPG, 1.3 TOPG

Strengths: 

Physically, Birch a great athlete. UNLV played him at center for the season, even though is game fits more of a power forward role but Birch stayed very healthy throughout the year. He is a solid work in progress prospect in this year’s draft with a great wingspan, and great strength, yet he also has the capability to bulk up and become even stronger.

Birch was a solid rebounder and one of the top shot blockers in college basketball last year, as he blocked 3.8 shots per game on one end of the floor and corralled 4.0 offensive rebounds per game on the other end, making him a very dangerous threat inside the paint. Birch did all the little things for UNLV such as spacing the floor, getting to loose balls, dominating the glass game after game, and getting back in transition. He showed great hustle and effort in big time moments and his work on the offensive glass was one of the most impressive things about his game and showed that he is a hard-working guy.

Birch was able to keep turnovers to a minimum on a team victimized by bad decisions all year and his passing actually showed great improvement from 2013. His overall size and length makes him a great option on the defensive end of the floor. In one of his best game of the year @ Utah State, Birch put up 11 points on 6 shots, but took over everywhere else, blocking 9 shots and grabbing 12 rebounds en route to a big road victory. Overall, Birch is an athletic prospect with a lot of potential upside to his game.

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Weaknesses:

The disappointing year UNLV had doesn’t help Birch’s case but Birch’s biggest weakness has to be his offensive game. Birch only averaged 11.5 PPG in 31.4 MPG and he struggled to get much going on the offensive end thanks to an unreliable source of production for Birch.  The glaring weakness with Birch’s offensive game is his dependence on shooting inside the paint, which combined with his post-up problems left his most effective way to score all season was his work on the offensive glass. Birch lacks any mid-range game at all, and other than layups or dunks could not get the ball into the basket on a consistent basis. In the post Birch’s lack of real strength or fundamental prowess made it easy for defenders to prevent him from scoring.

The lack of shooting range also impacts Birch at the free-throw line where he shot just 69.3%, not exactly a promising number for interested teams. Another big flaw is the fact he doesn’t really have a lock on his fundamentals in his game overall. While his numbers are very impressive with blocks and rebounds, he struggles in one-on-one situations on the defensive end and was victimized by switches on pick-and-rolls for a good portion of the year. While he’s an interesting prospect, his game needs plenty of work, especially with his fit, since UNLV played him at center while his figure will probably translate to a power forward in the NBA. There is a lot of work Birch needs to do in developing his game.

Projected Role: Birch would more than likely be a D-League prospect the Pelicans would work on for a few years, and then be brought up to back up Anthony Davis. He could become a solid bench option when AD needs a break, and could be a defensive threat to other team’s second units, and could potentially develop some kind of offensive game to help the Pelicans bench out.

Information for this post was found at DraftExpress.com. To view Birch’s profile and scouting report video at DX please go here.