Magic Prospects: David Lighty
At HtD, we’re taking a look at possible selections the Magic could make with the 53rd pick in the NBA Draft next Thursday.
We’ve already taken a look at College of Charleston point guard Andrew Goudelock.
Today, we’ll look at Ohio State wing David Lighty.
The former four-star recruit is one of several big-time players to sign with Thad Matta and the Ohio State Buckeyes, which is probably one of the reason he’s never put up huge numbers. He’s been overshadowed by three lottery picks (Greg Oden 1st overall, 2007 draft, Mike Conley 4th, 2007 draft, Evan Turner 2nd, 2010 draft) and played with another sure-fire lottery last season in freshman Jared Sullinger.
In fact, Lighty was a member of the famous Oden-Conley-Daequan Cook recruiting class that went to the national championship game during their freshman seasons.
Lighty has solid size for an NBA win, coming at 6’6 and 215 lbs.
After the jump, we’ll take a look at Lighty’s numbers from his senior season.
| GP | GS | MPG | PPG | eFG% | TS% | 3pt% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
37 | 37 | 32.0 | 12.0 | 54.5 | 56.5 | 42.9 | 62.7 |
| FTR | ORB% | DRB% | TOV% | AST% | STL% | FPG | ORtg |
43.4 | 5.2 | 10.3 | 14.8 | 18.5 | 2.8 | 1.85 | 117.4 |
Lighty’s numbers obviously don’t blow anyone away, but that was covered earlier – he hasn’t always had opportunities to to take a lot of shots.
One of Lighty’s major problems has been his history with injuries. Lighty tore his ACL as a high schooler and lost all but seven games of his junior season due to a fractured foot. He was, however, granted a fifth year of eligibility.
In the game in which I paid special attention, a 58-44 victory over Florida State, Lighty wasn’t all that impressive. He scored just 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting and turned the ball over four times. He put up some extremely bad shots, but to be fair, Florida State has been one of the elite defensive teams in the country over the last few seasons and he was often guarded by potential lottery back and noted defender Chris Singleton.
Of course, a one-game sample size is no way to judge a player, but it’s nice to see how a player does against a big time player like Singleton.
On the flip side, Lighty scored 26 points on 9-of-11 in a win in Gainesville over a Florida Gator team that reached the Elite 8.
Lighty’s three-point percentage over his last two seasons and especially during his senior season, was fantastic. He shot 42.9% from beyond the arc and you know that’s something the Magic would love to have. Lighty is not going to be the guy that creates around the basket despite being a pretty good finisher at the rim – he’s more of a spot-up shooter. He’s simply not going to beat you off of the dribble.
He probably lacks the ability to ever be a lock-down defender but from everything I’ve seen and heard, Lighty will give a great effort at all times. He’s a guy that can give you a bit of everything – he’s not really great at any one facet of the game, but he’s not bad at anything, at least in the college game.
College players who are considered role players usually don’t develop into solid NBA role players, but when you’re picking as late in the draft as the Magic are, you have to take your chances.
Philip Rossman-Reich of Orlando Magic Daily saw Lighty on a few occasions while covering Northwestern basketball and he has a write-up on the Buckeye wing here (hint: he likes him).
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, ESPN 1080’s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com) and is the co-host of the ESPN1080.com Insiders Show Sunday mornings at 10:00 am EST. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).