The clear top four players in this year’s draft are John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Evan Turner and Derrick Favors. Each of them has at least one skill that projects to be elite at the NBA level and for Favors, it is his ability to be a low post scorer. They are the only four players in the draft with that kind of certain, translatable skill and it is why the drop after that four, however you want to rank them, is considerable.

It is immediately clear that Favors will be an impact player in the post even before he gets the ball. He has broad shoulders that provide the base for him to become a huge target for post entry passes, which he uses along with his excellent footwork and high motor to get open.  He does tend to pick up a lot of offensive fouls because of how physical he is in the post, something he’ll have to adjust to learn the nuances to keep him on the floor and out of foul trouble.

Once Favors catches the ball in the post, he has been impossible for collegiate players to defend without help. He has a good variety of moves, whether it is a hook shot, an up and under, or an occasional spin. His first step is quick and a little deceptive, combining athleticism and skill.

When Favors gets space, he has great touch as a finisher, able to use the glass and also lay it in softly without it. He seems at least competently ambidextrous with his attempts close to the bucket. Favors also has an impressive innate sense of where he is on the floor.

But he gets very visibly flustered when he is met with a second defender. He then becomes forced into high degree of difficulty shot attempts, which he was able to convert at an excellent 61.1% clip during his freshman season, but that will certainly decrease against NBA defenses initially. Even though he was a freshman, Favors was almost always taller and physically stronger than his competitors. Even against this inferior competition, Favors didn’t impose his will on defenders nearly enough and that killer instinct needs to be found in order for him to become a 20 point per night scorer.

Just about every bucket Favors ever converted on at Georgia Tech was extremely well earned and self-made. Unlike Cousins, who had Wall creating so much for him, he didn’t have guards to feed him easy dunk attempts. He therefore hasn’t been able to show it too much, but he is a good dunker with a quick jump up to the rim and good strength. Even though his game will mostly be predicated on the low post, he will be a better finisher than someone like Al Jefferson, who can’t get above the square like Favors can.

Favors also very rarely shot jumpers and even though he’ll need a lot of reps to get there, I project him as a big who will have an above average 15 foot jumper by his third or fourth NBA season. He gets really good lift, has a nice compact form and smooth follow-through. He will sometimes rush it just a little bit, resulting in too much strength and misses off the back rim or the backboard.

I think this part of his game will nicely complement a midpost game that will make him an exponentially more dangerous scorer in the long-term. Favors will have more opportunities to be a willing passer here as well, something he is naturally gifted at even though he is largely a black hole once he gets the ball in a scoring opportunity at this point.

On the pick and roll, Favors does set a wide screen, but he lacks enough competence with his jumper to pop and doesn’t roll to the lane too exceptionally right now. I think he has enough natural ability to do well in any kind of offensive system, but his gifts wouldn’t be maximized in a free-flowing Golden State or Phoenix style as a slow-paced, halfcourt game suits his skill-set.

Favors is also, unsurprisingly, a gifted rebounder, using similar technique of footwork, athleticism and length in this area of the game as he does in the post. He is a hard worker and does well on the offensive glass. He needs to be a little better at boxing out, but he rates strongly in this area overall.

Defensively, Favors is already a gifted shotblocker, using the same long arms and wide body he uses offensively also on the other end of the floor. He is a very capable shotblocker on-ball, which is more difficult. Scoring on Favors in the post will eventually be as difficult as it is to defend him, largely because he is such a big obstacle and won’t easily bait on pump fakes.

I expect him to also improve his help defense over time with more experience accrued. He has the athleticism, build and intelligence to be above average, he just needs a little more awareness.

He tends to be a little passive defensively when it isn’t a shotblocking situation, not getting into a low enough defensive stance, closing out on perimeter shooters in an unintimidating way and not being a big enough factor defending the passing lanes.

Favors will be an NBA starter for a very long time, as there are very few players as skilled as he is with that kind of athleticism and agility. We have seen undersized power forwards such as Paul Millsap and Carl Landry become impact scorers and even though he won’t transition as quickly as those two did right away since they were older rookies, they represent his absolute baseline since he is quite a bit bigger, which is pretty darn good. I don’t see Favors becoming a true franchise player on a playoff team, but he is one of the safest top-four picks we have seen over the past few drafts.