NBA Draft 2010 : Solomon Alabi shifted to Toronto Raptors from Dallas Mavericks
Just like in previous NBA Draft Nights, players that were picked by a certain team might be shifted immediately to another party. This year, one of the players that was traded during the draft night is Solomon Alabi. He was selected as the 50th Overall Pick by the Dallas Mavericks but was immediately shifted to the Toronto Raptors.
Though he was picked late in the draft, this young player has been on the prospect lists of different teams and analysts as well; and it's not surprising because he was among the top ten centers in the 2009-2010 season of the NCAA.
The 7-foot-1 Alabi is a big man with great athleticism. He has a good vertical leap and his long arms complement his playing style. He averaged 11.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game during his final year with Florida State University. Toronto needs a big man badly since they might be playing without their Superstar Forward Chris Bosh, who opted-out of his final year with the Raptors.
His upside is his size. With his height and 7'5" wingspan, he is a great shot blocker. He also has a pretty good vertical jump which compliments his blocking ability. He is a good help defender and an intimidating presence on the court. He is an aggressive defender close to the basket because he always looks to block every shot by the offensive player.
On the offensive side of the court, Alabi is known to be a good finisher. He is versatile as he can take his defender to the post and also has a good mid-range shooting. He positions himself very well inside the court which always creates scoring opportunities for him. And with his size, it's amazing to see that he can also drive the ball to the basket and draws foul from his defender. The opposing team cannot rely on just fouling him inside because Alabi is also a good free-throw shooter.
Though having good attributes, he has a lot to improve if he wants to stay in the league for a long period of time. He needs to know his limitatiosn because he always turns the ball over by making post moves that he can't perfectly do. Alabi also has the tendency to be rattled by post defenders leading to a lot of poor passes.
Physically, the 22-year old centre needs to bulk up. He only weighs 237 lbs. and this is not enough for him to hold his ground against opposing centres like Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum, and Brook Lopez. He dominated the basket during his college days but it will take a lot of work and effort if he wants to establish himself as one of the dominant centres in the league.
On the defensive end of the floor, Alabi tends to help too much, leaving his man wide open. His lateral movement should also improve so that he will be able to defend the agile centres in the NBA. Yes he can jump to grab rebounds, but he should also show efforts in tracking loose balls to give his team extra possessions.
Alabi was expected to be drafted in the first round but the doubts and flaws in his game made teams think twice about drafting him. The NBA Ball Clubs are afraid that Alabi will just be like Hasheem Thabeet. The Memphis Grizzlies centre was the second overall pick last year but he was not able to show his worth last season. He was even sent to the D-League because his team feels like he is not yet ready.
The Raptors also drafted big man Ed Davis and this is somehow a preparation for the worst that might develop this off season. They will likely lose Chris Bosh this summer through free agency. Davis and Alabi will take his place but the two young big men will have a very difficult time in filling the shoes that were left by their leading scorer Bosh.
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