I'm not saying he's Shaq, but the dude is jacked - definitely more than 205lbs. That's actually funny. Take a look at this video by Tomasz Kordylewski (he always has the best highlight videos imo). Everything about this guy screams Center.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkxiTgwW1cM
Finally got a chance to watch the highlights. He looks great. His timing on the court is excellent. His timing to release from his man and double was excellent, and he has the quickness to get there. I felt his defense was right there with RWill. His passing was surprisingly good, very quick decisions, sometimes even touch passes with purpose, again, very reminiscent of RWill. His scoring was mostly dunks but he did hit a couple of 3s, kind of end of the shot clock forced shots, but his stroke was better than Rob's.
I don't know if you want to call him a center or a PF but if he is on the court with Porzingis, Porzingis will cover the biggest opposing player (the center), same with Horford, same with Kornet. Gabriel will cover the more athletic of the bigs. His style of play, defense and rebounding, is more like a center I guess, which is fine on this team as our primary bigs, Porzingis and Horford, are more offensive minded.
I am going to make the classic mistake of getting my hopes up on Gabriel based on a highlight reel. I think he can play in the primary rotation. He won't need to do all that much on this team to be an effective complementary player, just defend, rebound, and finish when you get the chance. Plus make your FTs (62% career).
He barely played for the Lakers in the playoffs last season so they clearly did not view him as playoff rotation ready. Plus it appears that they made no effort to bring him back. So somewhere between Noah Vonleh and Rob Williams is what we can expect from Gabriel.
