He shoots 37 percent. How does a big man shoot 37????
+ Versatile big man who can finish at rim. Takes too many jumpers.
+ Solid athlete but hugely mistake-prone on defense. Overmatched as a center.
+ Has poor instincts at both ends. Very good rebounder. Improved left hand.
In his third season, Hickson showed signs of cashing in on his offensive promise. He averaged nearly a point every two minutes while turning a somewhat robotic post game into one with a bit more variety and deception. Cleveland gave him plenty of opportunities, as he ranked fourth among centers in usage rate. On many nights, his post game was its main half-court offensive threat.
His biggest problem was that he shot a lot of jumpers and only made a few of them. Hickson shot 32.8 percent beyond 10 feet but attempted more than four shots a game from that distance. And when he caught the ball, it was almost always to shoot it. Hickson ranked 63rd among centers in pure point rating; between that and his low-efficiency shooting, he was an empty trip machine. While he had to be somewhat selfish because of Cleveland's limited alternatives, it's fair to say he went overboard.
One good sign, however, was his progress over the course of the year. Hickson had two-thirds of an awful season and one-third of a pretty good one; after the All-Star break he averaged 16.8 points, 10.8 boards, increased his shooting percentage and slashed his turnovers. He even got a few assists.
No matter what version of plus-minus you were using, Hickson's numbers last season were atrocious. That's partly because of the low-efficiency, high-volume offense. But the other part was his defense; Hickson was a bad power forward trying to play center, where he was even worse. Synergy rated him as by far the league's worst center, while opposing centers cruised to a 19.2 PER against him according to 82games.com. It wasn't his one-on-one play, however, as much as the botched rotations and help defense no-shows that got him in trouble. In his defense, he was in help situations a lot because the Cavs' perimeter defenders were so weak.