Wiz of Awes
Fansided

Washington Wizards NBA Draft Primer 2015: The Big Men

By David Statman

facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 5
Next

Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Rakeem Christmas: Sr., Syracuse

Full admission: I’ve been a Syracuse basketball fan for pretty much my entire life, so I have no hope of being 100% objective when it comes to Rakeem Christmas. I love the guy, and for good reason. Christmas managed, through sheer hard work and audacity, to become one of the best big men Syracuse has ever known.

The man who averaged 17.5 points and 9.1 rebounds for the Orange this year seemingly came out of nowhere. He averaged about 4 points and 4 rebounds his first three seasons combined, but he walked in the door for his senior year and scream “WHAT UP GUYS! GUESS WHAT: I’M GREAT NOW. SURPRISE!”

Syracuse was an extremely thin team this year, and they counted on Christmas to do absolutely everything. Christmas was Cuse’s anchor on defense, their go-to scorer, and their only effective rebounder after second round candidate Chris McCullough went down. Even with this incredible load on his shoulders, Rakeem Christmas never faltered.

When thinking of a comparison at the NBA level, the name JJ Hickson comes to mind. Christmas’ offensive game has improved incredibly – already a very good athlete with a nice power forward frame, Christmas developed a strong post game out of absolutely nowhere, he possesses strong finishing skills, and he busted out a midrange jumper in his extremely impressive NBA Combine performance. He’s also become very used to dealing with defensive pressure as Syracuse’s primary option, and he adapted well.

On the other side of the ball, Christmas will need patience as he adjusts to an NBA-style defense after spending his collegiate career in Syracuse’s 2-3 zone. Still, he has the athleticism and the proven rim-protecting ability to get the job done, and he’s already a very good rebounder.

I’m biased, but I think Rakeem Christmas can end up being a productive NBA big man. He’ll probably go between the Washington Wizards’ picks at 19 and 49, but who knows.

Next: Wiz of Awes Mock Draft: Round One

More from Wiz of Awes

Home/Wizards News