Skal Labissiere is coming out. He wants the world to know.
Taken as a project by the Suns — after a disappointing freshman season at Kentucky — with the 28th overall pick in this past summer's NBA Draft before being dealt to the Kings the same night, the 6-11 Haitian had a breakout performance Wednesday. He went for 32 points and 11 rebounds in 30 minutes, all career-highs, in a 107-101 win at Phoenix of all places.
It wasn't just what Labissiere did. It's how he did it.
Labissiere was efficient, connecting on 11 of 15 attempts from the field and made the most of his trips to the foul line, knocking down nine of 11 free throws. Though he didn't block a shot, he added a pair of steals and was only whistled for a personal foul twice. No doubt his presence alone in the middle contributed to the Suns shooting 40.2 percent from the field, well below their season average of 45.2. And he was clutch, scoring 21 in the fourth quarter, including the Kings' first 14 in the quarter.
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Expecting Labissiere to put up 30 and 10 with any regularity is far, far too much to ask at this point. He's still the same lanky 225-pounder who seldom looked comparable in the paint to Kentucky predecessors such as Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins and Karl-Anthony Towns. He was in and out of coach John Calipari's starting lineup and averaged 6.6 points and 3.1 rebounds during his lone season in Lexington after being rated the No. 2 player in the country behind Ben Simmons However, his improvement, albeit a small sample size, is proof he's trending upward and taking strides toward making his immense potential kinetic.
At the All-Star break the Kings agreed to deal Cousins, along with Omri Casspi, to the Pelicans in exchange for Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, rookie Buddy Hield and a first- and second-round pick in the 2017 draft. Labissiere, along with Willie Cauley-Stein, another Kentucky product, has helped to pick up the slack. In March, Labissiere is averaging 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds.
Wednesday, Labissiere showed he possesses the multifaceted offensive skill set of the modern big man, facing up and taking defenders off the dribble and drilling a 3-pointer (He's only attempted two all season, but he looked comfortable doing so) from the top of the key in a catch-and-shoot situation. With the emergence of what appears to be the next wave of young post players such as the Nuggets' Nikola Jokic and the Trail Blazers' Jusuf Nurkic, Labissiere, who isn't old enough to drink, could be adding his name to the list.
Stay tuned.