2016 NBA Draft: Where does Deyonta Davis fit into the NBA?

Deyonta Davis spent just one season at Michigan State before declaring for the 2016 NBA Draft. Where does his fit in at the next level?

Michigan State and head coach Tom Izzo aren’t used to having such highly regarded recruits come to East Lansing.

As a matter of fact, two of the best players during Izzo’s tenure as head coach of the Spartans, Draymond Green and Denzel Valentine, weren’t ranked amongst the top 75 high school players in America.

Then there’s Deyonta Davis.

The big man came to Lansing as the 26th best freshman in the country, according to Rivals. And while he didn’t exactly dazzle in his one season at Michigan State, averaging seven points, five rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game in just 18 minutes per game, his potential was obvious.

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Davis declared for the NBA Draft following the season, and is now projected to be a lottery selection.

So what can Davis even contribute at the NBA level?

Like previous stated, his production in college was decent, but limited. It was a bit underwhelming for someone that is projected to be selected so high.

The one obvious place where Davis can contribute immediately is at the defensive end. His block rate of 10.2 percent is second among college players entering the draft, behind Purdue’s A.J. Hammons.

His height (6’10”) and wingspan (7’2″) are ideal for an NBA big man, and are two of the prominent forces behind his shot-blocking ability.

His versatility on the defensive end figures to be something that can help him contribute in the NBA, where there are much more pick-and-rolls, meaning many more opportunities for him to switch onto guards.

Jonathan Givony of Draft Express noted that “his ability to switch on screens and stay in front of players big and small has been huge for the Spartans, especially late in games.”

The offensive end of the floor is where he needs quite a bit of work. Davis lacks a post-up game, and wasn’t all that much of a threat from the outside, yet he still managed respectable percentages from everywhere he shot.

He shot about 60 percent of his shots at the rim, and the other 40 percent from the mid-range. He made 71 percent of his shots at the rim, and 41 percent of his two-point jumpers, according to hoop-math.com.

Davis is a good enough rebounder that he’s a threat to score on put-backs, and his long wing-span means he’s always a threat for an alley-oop dunk.

“His excellent hands, soft touch and tremendous physical tools make him an extremely reliable finisher. He catches everything thrown his way, and is so quick off his feet that he’s very difficult for opposing big men to contest, making him an outstanding target off cuts and pick-and-rolls, and also a reliable option for lobs,” Givony also said in another scouting report.

To me, it’s clear where Davis fits in at the NBA level. He would be the perfect small-ball center, a player whose praises aren’t necessarily sung, but a prospect that every team covets.

He’ll do his job on the defensive end, and he’ll do it extremely well. On the offensive end, he should never be asked to be a a big scorer, and he probably never will be.

But he’s a solid enough threat that as soon as the defense falls asleep on him, he’s running to the rim for a dunk, or slipping inside for a put-back.

Davis is likely not a future All-Star and won’t make All-NBA teams, but he is the type of player that could become a necessity with the direction the NBA is headed. For example, he’d be the perfect antidote to fight off the Warriors’ small-ball lineups that are being deployed in the NBA Finals.

Next: NBA Draft's top small forwards

Sounds like a player the Cleveland Cavaliers could use right about now.

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