New Orleans Pelicans NBA Draft: Reggie Perry is a second round force

New Orleans Pelicans NBA Draft: Reggie Perry is an athletic big man with one of the highest motors in the class

Reggie Perry’s Strengths

The first thing I saw when I watched footage of Reggie Perry was toughness and compete. Perry was simply active in everything on the court when he was in the game.

It’s was just clear that Perry plays the game end to end because there are so many sequences when opponents missed shots and Perry grabbed the rebound and then ran the floor to get on offense. Accompanying those sequences, there were plenty of times when Perry’s team missed and he was the first to transition to defense to stop that other team. It’s so rare to find a player like that, and that’s why I describe Perry as tough.

If we want to get into Perry’s strengths as a pure player though, there’s plenty to like there too. Let’s start with scoring, Perry is a physical and imposing scorer at 6’10” and 250 pounds. A strong finisher at the basket, Perry will score on off-ball motion plays, or by forcing his way to the basket with the ball in his hands. He’s also a solid post scorer who excels at backing down his opponents.

If you think that Perry is sounding a little bit like an ancient big man, don’t worry. Perry’s game is growing as he began hitting 33 percent of his 3 point shots during his sophomore season at Mississippi State.

His offense isn’t just scoring either, Perry averaged 2.3 assists last season which indicates that he has some good playmaking abilities for a big man.

Of course, we can’t finish talking about Perry without mentioning his rebounding either, he’s a great rebounder with good technique to box out and position himself. There’s a reason why Reggie Perry was a walking double-double in college, but let’s see where he can improve.