Mason Plumlee
Position: PF/C
Hgt: 7'0"
Wgt: 238
Age: 23
Projected Draft Number: #14 NBADraft.net/#17 Draftexpress.com
College: Duke
College Stats 2012-13: 34.7min 17.1pts (.599FG% .000TPt% .681FT%) 9.9reb 1.9ast 1.0stl 1.4blk 2.9TO
Capt's Review: Plumlee is a 23-year-old center who is full height (7'0.5" in shoes) but has short arms (6'11" wingspan). Plumlee's biggest knock is that he doesn't do anything particularly well. He's an adequate but not superior defender, a pretty good rebounder who even so has a tendency to get outmuscled by full-sized opponents, and a guy who does most of his scoring near the basket. He doesn't have a jumpshot, and given his terrible, flat free-throw stroke (though his percentages at the line have increased each year) I don't have a lot of hope for one in the future. In a bit of a worrying note, his per-minute rebounding and per-minute blocks have actually gone down over the past two years. The way I see it, he doesn't do anything nearly well enough to earn a selection higher than seventh or eighth among the centers in this draft class.
Baja's Review: Wow, another Plumlee leaves Duke for the draft! But don't fret, they have another in the wings for next season. I think somewhere in the bowels of Duke university, there's a cloning machine that does nothing but spit out one Plumlee after another. This one is named Mason. I'll admit going in that I'm not a big fan of Mason's. However, he has improved this past season, and actually had some of the offense run through him. Offensively, Mason is essentially a post player, which would be OK, if he had a variety of moves. But he doesn't. His post game is fairly simple consisting of a hookshot over either shoulder with a few drop steps thrown in. At times he farily effective and at other times, he seems a bit mechanical. I would say that Plumlee is an above average athlete that runs the floor very well and he has good, but not explosive leaping ability. My problem is that I just don't see him as a center in the NBA for the same reasons I don't see Zeller as a center. He's another with T-Rex arms, that I think will hinder him at the next level. Defensively, he's not a shotblocker, and while a good athlete, he appears to have just average lateral quickness. He had a lot of trouble defending the pick and roll, making a show, and then getting back to his man. He's a poor ballhandler that can get away with a couple of dribbles, but anything beyond that is a turnover. I project him as a PF at the next level, with the ability to play some center with the right matchups. The problem with my scenario, is that he has no game away from the basket. If he has a jumpshot, I haven't seen it, and I saw him play a lot. However, I watched Cousins play over 20 games at Kentucky, and I never once saw him take a jumpshot. As everyone now knows, his jumpshot is pretty good. So who knows? I see Plumlee going somewhere in the bottom of the first round. He is a good rebounder, and a very active player, so someone will take a flyer on him. I think his future is as a 12 year veteran off the bench.
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