Indiana Pacers Profile: The underrated dominance of Domantas Sabonis

Weaknesses

Defense: Thank God we have Myles Turner

While the former Gonzaga Bulldog is truly dominant on the offensive end, you could argue that he is a straight liability on defense. If it weren’t for his ability to lend plays via his work on the glass, he wouldn’t have tons of value on this side of the ball. With his below average lateral movement and sliding, he isn’t near a wing defender and most likely won’t ever be.

Although his strong, albeit limited wingspan allows him to fend off bullying big men from backing him down in the post, it doesn’t exactly help him when trying to deter shots at the rim or be a legit threat in passing lanes.

Shooting: Not enough three-point volume

Although the Pacer big man shot four threes in this season’s opener, three-point shot making is the final piece in the buffet of bucket-getting needed to make Sabonis a Jokic-level superstar offensive hub. Like I said earlier, his mid range game shows solid fundamentals and great touch around the rim could project that Domantas could in theory become a real three-point threat.

Because he is a 75% free throw shooter, we can probably assume that he could progress into a legit pick and pop threat someday. As of right now, we haven’t been given a big enough sample size to determine if this is true, as last season he only had a three-point attempt frequency of 7.9%.

No matter the talents and detriments a player may have, what’s more important is how they, and more vitally, their coach utilizes these skills in game action.