Ike Anigbogu didn’t get a ton of opportunities with the Pacers this season. But we saw enough to know what he can be someday.
In DraftExpress’ final 2017 NBA Mock Draft, Ike Anigbogu was a projected first-round pick. The quick, bouncy, defensive-minded center captivated scouts and his stock was high. He was also the youngest player in the draft, he’s still just 19 after finishing his first season, so it is understandable why some mock drafts had Anigbogu going in the top-30.
A knee injury scared teams away from drafting the big man out of UCLA. The Pacers didn’t snag him in the first round, but when Indiana was on the clock with the 47th pick, the upside of Anigbogu was too hard to pass up.
But not long after the draft, the Pacers trade for Domantas Sabonis. The trio of Sabonis, Myles Turner, and Al Jefferson meant that Ike probably wouldn’t see much playing time in his rookie season, and that is exactly what happened.
A combination of a crowded rotation and raw skills made playing time hard to come by for Anugbogu, but we still saw some of what he can be in both Fort Wayne and very limited minutes with the Pacers. Let’s review the rookie year we saw from one of the Pacers second-round picks.
The Good
The good for Anigobgu is less about what good he showed and more about good news, and that is that the scouting reports about him appear to be accurate.
Adam Wells at Bleacher Report described Anigbogu like this coming out of UCLA:
"“At 252 pounds with an enormous 7’6″ wingspan and quick feet, he patrols the paint defensively and finishes inside off dives, dump-offs, lobs, and putbacks.”"
With a raw guy like Anigbogu, you hope he can show skills that he flashed in college so that there is a clear framework for what type of player he can grow into. If Anigbogu couldn’t do any of the things he did well at UCLA while on Indiana, that would have thrown up some major red flags. Thankfully, that was not the case.
Most of Anigbogu’s upside was supposedly on the defensive end, and we certainly saw how that could be where he thrives in the future. He swatted three shots in just 30 total minutes of playing time. That led to him an astronomical 8.9 percent block rate.
Watch here as Ike Anigbogu shows off his springiness and his anticipation skills, as he explodes off the weakside block to deny Shabazz Muhammad at the rim:
Rim protection is arguably the most important skill for a center to posses in the modern NBA, so Anigbogu showing signs of being competent at that ability is encouraging.
Probably the second most important skill for a center in the modern game, and the second item listed on Anigbogu’s scouting report, is finishing. Unfortunately, we can’t say a lot about Anibogu’s finishing as he only took nine total shots this season, making four of them.
In the G League, Ike shot 52.5 percent from the field in around 500 minutes. This is of course against worse competition, but encouraging nonetheless. If Ike can one day be a rim running rim protector, a la Rudy Gobert’s play style, he could be one helluva rotation player.
Also, Anigbogu probably won’t ever be a good jump shooter, but…
Money!
Okay, kidding about the “probably”, Ike won’t ever be a guy who takes jumpers. But he hit one, and a buzzer beater at that, which is inherently a good thing. That doesn’t mean anything, but it was cool and it needed to be included in this section.
The Bad
The worst part of Anigbogu’s season is that he didn’t get enough chances to show what he can do, but that isn’t his fault. After Trevor Booker joined the roster, he was the seventh big man in the rotation. There just weren’t enough minutes, even in garbage time, to get Ike on the hardwood.
Ike’s biggest hurdle may have been turnovers, and that was on both levels of play. In the pros, he coughed it up on 14.7 percent of his possessions, the same mark as Lance Stephenson. In the G League, where he mad more minutes against worse competition, he still turned it over on 13.2 percent of his possessions, a number that is usually representative of a guard or an aggressive ball handler, not a play finishing center.
He has weak hands and a poor read on passing angles, which is par for the course for a player of his age and playstyle. But he still struggled with simple handoffs and passes on more than one occasion:
Another challenge for Anigbogu in the G League was fouling. He hacked opponents 3.7 times per 36 minutes, a higher mark than Myles Turner had in the pros and only .7 away from the foul-happy Domantas Sabonis.
That level of fouling is indicative of a young player who just hasn’t caught up with the speed of the professional game yet. When he is out of position, or a step late on his defensive rotation, Anigbogu is forced to foul. Ike can play D when he is in the right position, it will just take some time for him to be in the right position more often. But the fouls were not great this season.
A gif to describe Ike Anigbogu’s season
Ike was the youngest player in the NBA this season. He is just a baby! And his play style shows that. He is raw, and he plays like he is young and inexperienced. And that is just fine. But this baby is in a suit because it is Boss Baby. Coincidentally, Anigbogu is a boss, baby. He has the gifts to be a quality player someday.
What’s Next for Ike?
Ike is set to make $1,378,242 next season, but only about half ($650,000) is guaranteed. The Pacers front office has to decide if Ike’s potential is worth keeping around at that price.
Al Jefferson thinks so. When I talked to Jefferson about Ike during the season, he had tremendously nice things to say. “Ike I’m very jealous of, because… look at him. I’ve been in the league all this time and I don’t have a body like that.” Jefferson said. “He’s got all the tools”.
The framework is there for Anigbogu to be an impactful NBA player. Unfortunately, the path to getting playing time is a challenging one for him in Indiana. He will be stuck behind at least Sabonis and Turner in the rotation this coming season if he sticks around, and possibly more guys if the Pacers bring someone else in. It could be hard for him to touch the floor.
But he’s healthy now, which means he will get to play in Vegas summer league. Given that he is talented and has a year of NBA experience, he should dominate there.
Next: Domantas Sabonis: Breaking down season one with the Indiana Pacers
If he doesn’t dominate in Vegas, then it might to time to be concerned about what Ike could bring to the table. But he showed enough flashes of competence in year one to earn another season to grow. Anigbogu isn’t quite ready to contribute yet. But he could be closer than you think.