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Photo Courtesy of Oregon Live
Louis King, a 6-foot-8 205 lb forward who will being playing his freshman season at Oregon, along with a another 5-star recruit, Bol Bol. Look at these young kids, forming superteams before they even make the NBA. Duke, Oregon, Warriors, all the same. Kevin Durant, I blame you. King even compares his game to a shorter Kevin Durant.
King has a nice jumper from behind the arc. It is one of his best weapons. His release looks a little slow but it goes in which is the most important part. There isn’t much footage of him in the post, but it looks like King doesn’t look to have to many post moves, just a inside post fade. He hasn’t shown anything special with his passing, so it looks like King will be average in that aspect. His rebounding looks to be average as well, King hasn’t shown a great ability to rebound the ball.
He can attack the basketball rim well from all angles, going left or right, however his finishing with his left hand in my eyes need to improve a little bit. He often will attack to the left and then try and finish with a reverse layup with his right hand. This makes me think he doesn’t trust finishing with his weak hand, which is his left. King looks to be a great dunker, his highlights are full of him catching bodies. Even though I said his passing looks average, King also looks good in the pick and roll as the ball carrier. Look for a King - Bol pick and roll next year at Oregon.
King’s defensive upside is untapped so far. Any 6-foot-6 to 6-foot-9 forward that is above average athletically has this upside. However also with King’s 7-foot wingspan, it makes him a great candidate to turn into a great defender. King's vertical leaping ability allows his shot-blocking ability to take over games in some aspects His feet movements don’t look super quick, which is a must have for permenter defense. He might need to work on his foot speed. If he can he could become someone like Andre Iguodala, or he might turn into Andrew Wiggins, King needs to learn both sides of the ball if he wants to succeed at the next level. His offense isn’t good enough alone to carry him into the NBA.
King is a 5-star recruit that might just be the next NBA star. He can do it all on offense, and has strong chance to become a two way player. Overall, Louis King is a great prospect that you need to keep your eye on.