New Orleans Pelicans 2015 NBA Draft Profiles: Rakeem Christmas
It is that time of year again. With the NBA Draft just a few weeks away it is time to start looking at players that the New Orleans Pelicans can potentially draft. While most of the players that we profile will be second round players since the Pelicans currently only have a second round pick, there will also be a few first round talents mixed in with the bunch as well. Considering the Pelicans are pretty set in the backcourt and at power forward the profiles will focus on wing players that fit into a small forward role and backup big men, places the Pelicans can stand to get a bit better.
There’s very few schools that are given an automatic red flag whenever a player is drafted from there, but not every school is Syracuse. Outside of Carmelo Anthony and Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse has pumped out so many obvious busts at this point that there’s a growing policy among draft analysis. “Whatever you do, don’t draft the player from Syracuse.” Will Rakeem Christmas be one of the players to prove the policy right, or is he worth taking a shot on despite Syracuse’s horrible history of prepping players for the NBA?
The Basics:
Age: 23
Height (with shoes): 6’9.75”
Weight: 243
Wingspan: 7’5.25”
Standing Reach: 9’2.5”
2014-2015 stats: 17.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.5 blocks in just 34.3 minutes per game
Draft Projections: Second round.
Strengths:
Christmas is slightly undersized at 6’9, but his wingspan will allow him to guard just about any big man in the NBA. He had no problem scoring efficiently on college level talent, averaging 17 points per game, and was able to thrive in his senior year once his usage level increased. He was very good at finishing near the rim, and his post up game in college was respectable. A lot of his success in these areas had to do with his height and athleticism, which he also used to be a pretty good shot blocker. Even though blocks value are still argued, many NBA circles agree that it’s a skill that usually translates over to the NBA in some shape or form.
What Christmas will bring to the NBA most is that he’s already for the most part a developed player. At 23 years old, following four years of college, Christmas isn’t expected to make any more massive jumps as a prospect. This fits the Pelicans who don’t usually want to spend time developing project players, and will more likely prefer a finished product while they chase the playoffs.
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Weaknesses:
Now this is where Christmas being a Syracuse prospect comes in. Despite averaging 2.5 blocks per game with good size and wingspan, he is still considered a poor defender. Playing in Syracuse’s 2-3 zone, Christmas was allowed to stand in the paint for entire defensive possessions, and as such he’s never learned how to play actual defense. Entering the NBA, he’s going to have to learn how to play an entirely new defense, and his effort level on that end in college was far from good. He has the ability to get better on that end, but it’s gonna be some work to get rid of bad habits that he was taught at Syracuse. Christmas also might have to drop down to power forward on defense due to his size. Even though all rookies get
Offensively is the biggest question mark for Christmas. He put up good numbers at Syrcause, but his skills were limited to finishing at the rim, offenive rebounds and post ups. He showed at the combine that his offense can be fleshed out a little more with some midrange game, face up action, and work in the pick and roll. Considering Christmas’s ability to finish at the rim in college, he could theoretically be a solid scoring power forward if he can consistently do everything he did at the combine. The workouts will obviously tell us more, but right now the body of work in college is larger and forces us to approach his combine with healthy skepticism.
Projected role:
If Christmas were drafted by the Pelicans, he’d likely take over Jeff Withey’s current role as a big man that provides depth and is only expected to rebound. The only problem with this is Christmas would be an undersized center in that role, and he wouldn’t be spending too much time at power forward due to the Pelicans roster having plenty of those already.
At his ceiling, Christmas is a solid backup big that can come off the bench to provide some points, and maybe even play some decent defense. At his floor, Christmas can pull down rebounds and not much else. A lot of what he can do depends on what effort level he brings. Motor might be a cliche, but Christmas is gonna need one to succeed.
Information for this post, including measurements, came from DraftExpress.