NBA Comparison: Stanley Roberts

Strengths: NBA level size, strength and power around the rim, solid leaping ability … Extremely productive college scorer … Explosive off the ground and has the athleticism to jump off two feet or run the floor in transition … Understands how to fill the lane correctly, has proven to be a consistent rim runner, lob threat in the half court, good out of the pick and roll, knows when to stop short or when to go toward the rim, extremely effective in the dunker position and in the post, uses strength and a drop step to finish around the rim … Good hands feels comfortable catching lobs and when moving toward the rim, excellent rebounder on both ends of the floor, can battle inside through traffic with anyone and is never really out of the play when the ball is in the air, good put back player with the ability to clear space with his body – rarely gives up position when he has it inside … Active rebounding hands marks his man and is able to really secure boards on both ends … The epitome of a glass cleaning big man, good defender around the rim … Isn’t the best shot blocker, but has shown his size and power does deter drivers from getting clean looks around the rim, can contest without fouling, average lateral quickness for his size and has the ability to wall off smaller guards coming toward the rim, specifically on the pick and roll …

Weaknesses: Massive limitations on the offensive end of the floor, no game outside of five feet and has not had any type of year over year improvement expanding his range at school … Relies heavily on his drop step and power without any other significant post moves to challenge defenders, he has shown a bit of a jump hook but does not have nearly enough consistency to effectively use it at the next level … No real mechanics behind his shot, just seems when he is outside of 5 feet he is pushing the ball toward the rim … Everything out of five feet can be improved … He has a hard time navigating with the ball outside of the paint, not a ball handling threat … Loose in dribble hand offs and can’t take a player one on one outside to get to his spot, strictly a pick and roll big man with no pop and minimal potential to grow … Doesn’t have any playmaking ability or shown positive court vision … Struggled to find an open man or handle traps/pressure when he was in the post, more turnover prone when faced with pressure he can’t muscle through, as his role expanded turnovers also increased … Did improve his FT% but at his size and rate he gets fouled it isn’t impactful..shot 66% senior year, really poor shooting mechanics across the board and this impacts his free throw ability and offensive ceiling … Can improve hand placement, ball position, upper/lower fluidity … Feels like his upper and lower half are working at two different rates … Needs to sync this up and get his hand behind the ball instead of the side … And release the ball on the side instead of in front of his face … Even though he is an elite rebounder, his lack of playmaking, pedestrian defense  is going to be too slow to defend on the perimeter …

Outlook: Cockburn, on paper has the power and size to be an NBA level, big but just hasn’t shown the offensive improvement you would like to see from an experienced college player … As the game continues to trend toward pace and space, it seems that his path to a main roster will come way of the G-League … While he could be drafted in the second round and placed on an organizations development team, it is more than likely that he will go undrafted and attempt to make a roster as a FA … Offensive ability makes it a challenge for him to reach NBA level given his current areas of improvement …

Notes: Measured 6’11.0” barefoot, 7’0.25” in shoes 9’3.0” standing reach, 300.0 lbs, and 7’4.0” wingspan at the 2021 NBA Draft Combine … Measured: 6’11.0” barefoot, 7’0.0” in shoes, 9’2.50” standing reach, 293.0 lbs, 7’4.25” wingspan at the 2022 NBA Draft Combine …

Joe Casey 6/16/22