Xavier Silas – 2018-19 G-League Player Profile

June 20th, 2019

Xavier Silas

SG – 6’5, 198lbs – Born 22nd January 1988

   Iowa Wolves   

Silas was in the NBA last year, called up at the end of the season by a Boston Celtics team that ran out of ball handlers at one point. There was a time when that is what Silas was – over the course of his career, he has become more of a catch-and-shoot specialist, and, as can be seen from his 95th percentile shooting here this year, he remains a good one. The mid-rangers of his younger days are now threes, and it is an important weapon to have.

It is also however the only weapon he seems to have any longer. Silas seems to be losing his athleticism, and with that, his slashing game. Without that, he is a good three-point shooter, but so are many other players. Those other players will usually be bigger, quicker, and thus better equipped to both run the court, drive curls and defend their position. There was a time that Xavier Silas was a good defender at both guard positions who got his own offensively, who could take turns at the point guard spot, knife into the lane and make things happen off the dribble. He does not appear to be that player any longer.

Silas still plays hard and he still plays smart. At the G-League level, he is a solid veteran role player worth having, not just for the shooting but also the experience. Yet in no longer being a positive overall defensive player or someone who can creates in the pick-and-roll or push the ball, his role is starting to get quite small.

Or, maybe he was just hurt all year and he is about to have a beautiful comeback. Let’s hope it is the latter, because he seems to have fallen off quite a long way in a few mere months, and if it is injury-based, it can be reversed.

– 20th June, 2019

• This above is extracted from the following page in the The Basketball Manifesto, an entirely free 3,775 page, 1.2 million word-ish basketball reference book which contains reviews, strategies, ideas, opinions, and a whole lot of scouting on men’s world basketball.

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