Dream Fit: Pelicans, Celtics, Knicks

Overall Grade: 49.13

Projected Position: C

Strengths:

• Solid feel for open space on rolls

• Long arms allow him to get rebounds over other players easily

• Long & tall

• Long arms help him swat a lot of balls

• Doesn't fully commit to defending shots on the perimeter allowing him to change direction easier on drives

• Solid passing feel out of dribble hand-offs

• Strong & can blow up most boxouts

• Long arms force adjustments on perimeter shots when he rarely steps up

• Solid hip fluidity & long strides allow him to move well from the perimeter with slower players

• Solid adjustments with post players trying to set up shots

• Easy for him to dunk & athletic finishing through traffic

• Strong upright contests when he properly squares up with players

• Solid change of direction for his size

Weaknesses:

• Bad foot speed that he compensates for with some adjustments in positioning, but ultimately heavily affects his defensive ability

• Poor vert on contests

• Always in a deep drop & doesn't step up due to lack of speed

• Poor adjustments to players fully extending on shots

• Needs to be more physical in the post, tries to finesse too much

• Decently often late timing on shot contests

• Holds the ball low in traffic

• Bad hands

• At times ball watches offensively & lets himself get boxed out

• Poor sudden adjustments from trying to rebound to defend & vice versa

• Struggles to secure rebounds

• Needs to be more physical on defense

OFF

• Great dunker of course with his size

• Play finisher/dunker spot archetype

• also DHO hub, could be both of these in the NBA

• Decent touch for a non shooter, I like his free throws

• Not a three point shooter, some long term upside MAYBE

• Some passing upside, decent vision. Makes good decisions

• No utility outside of the paint on ball

• Lob threat

DEF

• Very slow footed

• No switch ability

• Incredible shot blocker

• Average in drop, low motor and sometimes questionable positioning but his length allows him to still defend there

• Devent post defense

• No utility on defense with spacing or a switching defensive scheme

OVERALL

• Very team dependent with his success in the nba given his lack of versatility

• Similar to Zach Edey in many ways, Zikarsky seems like a better defender but Edey is a more dominant scorer

• Will be a great rim protector, but can he ever be a starter with the multitude of offensive schemes in the nba right now?

• His immobility will hurt him a lot

• Will be a very polarizing prospect, on one hand he’s dominant physically, he’s a gigantic rim protector with upside to shoot and pass, on the other hand he will get exploited in the playoffs

• Borderline Top 20 prospect

Last Ranking: 19

Trend: DOWN

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Big, long and talented. A very good athlete. Legit shot-blocker and is great on the boards. Needs more skill from 8 feet and out and his handle needs work.

NBA Comp: Brook Lopez, Zach Edey

Comp: Moses Brown

• absolute monster of a human at 7’2”, 260 with a +3 wingspan

• great rim protection simply due to his insane height and wingspan; his ability to cover so much airspace allows him to stay on his feet and avoid major foul trouble and overcommitment

• impressive timing as a lob catcher/roller for someone of his stature

• solid scoring touch with good hands

• impressively solid coordination

• gets blown by habitually on the perimeter as to be expected

• rough around the edges as a screener and gets thrown around in traffic

• can’t shoot at all and isn’t good from the foul line either

TBC

Zikarsky is a bit of a Zach Edey. He might be too big for his own good.

The combine proved his immense size: 7'3 W/O Shoes (1st), 9'6.5 standing reach (1st), 7'5 wingspan (6th). 27.5" standing vert (5th among centers), 31.5" max vert (4th among centers), 3 second shuttle run (4th among centers).

One of the youngest players in the draft, will still be 18 at the draft.

Typical dunking big with great post defense (if you want a shot-blocking anchor, then this might be your guy).

His feet can be like bricks, he just can't move that quickly.

Played in the NBL (bonus points) so has developed a tough defensive mindset.

Seems to have nice touch, and his free throw form isn't bad at all. I don't want to speak too soon, but there might be something there in terms of shooting 3s.

I think he's become a bit underrated because of a disappointing predraft season, and the fact his flaws are so easy to point out, but hes a real prospect.

Makes silly mistakes and has a poor AST/TO ratio.

Comp: Zach Edey

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