Ht/Wt: 6'10" / 205 lbs
Position: SF
Team: San Diego St.
Class: Freshman

2015 Draft Profile - Malik Pope

Strengths
Malik Pope isn’t talked about much but he could wind up being a major sleeper in this year’s draft class. Pope has great size and explosive athleticism for the position. He runs the floor like a guard and can beat most forwards up the court regularly.

Pope is extremely versatile offensively. He is an excellent shooter with NBA three-point range, and has a good handle that allows him to create his own shot. He is also a solid rebounder, but must show more aggressiveness.

Defensively he has the potential to be an absolute terror. His athletic tools are outstanding and he has the potential to guard three positions and maybe even some power forwards.

Weaknesses
The biggest question surrounding Pope is his injury issues. He missed his junior and senior season of high school with two major leg injuries. That increases his risk not only because of his injury concerns, but that is also two full seasons of possible development lost which puts him far behind the curve.

San Diego St. is bringing him along extremely slowly as he is playing very few minutes so far. As far as on court improvements, Pope will need to add strength to his rail thin frame. He can still be pushed around offensively and defensively.

NBA Player Comparison
Pope has some ridiculous physical tools, and is pretty skilled to go along with it, but he has a long ways to go before reaching his potential, very much like Giannis Antetokoumpo.

Anyone taking Pope will have to be patient and bring him along slowly. But with some time and work, Pope could be a multi-position terror in this new NBA where positions are becoming less and less important.

Statistics
PPG: 5.1 RPG: 2.6 APG: 0.5 SPG: 0.2 BPG: 0.7 FG%: 45.4 FT%: 6.7 3PT%: 41.7




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