Leonardo Di Pacce Dos Santos

Morro is one of the more mysterious players in this year’s draft in that not many teams know much about him. He led the Brazilian league in blocked shots at around 3.0 per game and shot 34% from the three point line. In this workout, it was no secret that Morro is extremely skilled for a player of his size offensively, and is athletic enough to play the power forward position in the NBA.

In the ball-handling and shooting drills, Morro went through the drills with the fluidity that most 6’11 players dream of having. He seems extremely comfortable facing the basket and handling the ball, and really shot well all the way out to the collegiate three point line. The lefty has nice lift on his shot and gets it off in a hurry.

Although he could easily add more weight, Morro has a great frame and possesses a massive wingspan, which is supposedly 7’3. He uses this wingspan to his advantage, as both Donewald and Dole told me that he is one of the better defenders in the Brazilian league. Unfortunately however, we were unable to see Morro in action to judge for ourselves, but his length and leaping ability definitely make him pass the look test of being a good defender.

Morro’s biggest knocks are reportedly his lack of a low post game and that he is a bit on the soft side. Of course we were unable to come to a conclusion on either of these areas due to the nature of the workout, but we did see him show off hook shots with either hand about five feet away from the basket. Obviously this is not enough to develop an accurate evaluation of his low post game, but Morro looked good in the moves that he did show us.

I personally feel that teams in the second round are going to have to take a look at Morro due to his combination of size and skill. He’s talented enough that he could really shock some teams at workouts and wind up getting picked in the second round. Workouts are going to be extremely critical for Morro, because like Marquinhos, it’s nearly impossible to obtain game tape on him from the Brazilian league. Unlike Marquinhos, though, he did not play in Italy to give NBA scouts a chance to really give a feel for the type of 5 on 5 player he really is.

Bob Donewald on Morro:

“He’s a big kid that we found. He’s a left handed kid. 6’11, 230..235. He could get stronger, but he’s one heck of an athlete. He’s a very good shot blocker, especially on the ball, which is definitely a skill that not a lot of guys have. He can guard on the ball and block shots on the ball. He’s a rebounder. He’s a guy in the NBA that can pick and pop and stretch the defense. Down inside, he can go to either hand with his hooks. He’s a skilled big, and I don’t know how many skilled bags there are in this draft. The thing I like is that when we played against him, he’s mean. He’s not afraid to throw his body around. He’s got a great motor. He goes hard all the time. He’s the first one down the floor. He’s knocking people over. He’s going to be really interesting as people start to figure out and watch who he is and figure out how he plays.”