Chinanu Onuaku, a 19 year old sophomore out of Louisville, is currently mocked in the 2nd round. He shoots his FT's underhanded, which might contribute to some scouts not taking him seriously... however, the stats say that he is severely undervalued, as described in this writeup:
https://deanondraft.com/2016/05/29/2016-baby-bigs-dont-sleep-onuaku/Onuaku's 13.9 BPM is 3rd in the league, and the top 10 in BPM this year were all 2+ years older than him except for Ben Simmons (who is also slightly older than Onuaku), so it's worth taking a close look at him.
What stands out about Onuaku is his outstanding mobility for his size--he's a chiseled 6'10 245lb center with a 7'3.5 wingspan, but he runs the floor like a wing, with long strides, and he can really fly around on defense. He should be able to cross-match onto PF's without any trouble, and he won't be a liability in a switch-happy defense. While DX listed "defensive fundamentals" as a weakness in their pre-season video, it seems that he has dramatically improved in this area his sophomore year.
Statistically, Onuaku's production has taken a massive leap from his mediocre freshman season to his sophomore year. His TRB% increased from an average 14.3% to an excellent 19.8%. His AST% lept from a disturbing 5.7% to a solid 12.9%, while his TOV% dropped from a very poor 33.5% to a still-bad-but-not-too-bad 20.8%. His TS% increased slightly from .596 to .62, while his usage doubled from 10.8% to 20.5%. Most intriguingly, Onuaku's Blk% went from 7.3% to 9.6%, a really good mark given his lack of explosiveness + ideal height, and his Stl% was good for a C at 1.9% (Freshman year: 2.5%). In terms of advanced stats, his WS/40 increased from .129 to an excellent .218; his OBPM went from -.20 to +3.6, and his DPBM went from +8.7 to a stellar +10.2.
Overall, it looks as though Onuaku was one of the best defensive bigs in college basketball, and he should be a plus in every defensive category in the NBA. He can protect the rim, lock down post scorers, contain the PnR, and secure defensive rebounds. Offensively, he will probably never develop a mid-range game and his poor FT shooting could keep him off the floor in the 4th quarter (he's a career .547 FT shooter, .589 after switching to underhand). But he's a good, efficient finisher who should be solid in a limited role, and unlike most big strong interior players, he can fit into a fast-paced offense with his outstanding end-to-end speed.
I would be elated to get Onuaku in the 2nd round, I'd feel lucky to land him #23, and if his workouts are as good as expected, I would not hesitate to take him #16.
Topic: Let's draft the underhanded free-throw shooter (Read 871 times)