(NOTE: This scouting report was written when Mihm was 26 years old)

Strengths:

At 7’0” and 265 lbs., Chris Mihm has a very good frame for the center position in the NBA. He has a strong upper body and can hold his ground solidly in the post against most of the skilled center prototypes, and he has good length, athleticism and solid quickness to also help him in that area.

Mihm has a diversified offensive game and showed more confidence in taking longer-range shots over the course of the season. Mihm plays well in the high post, where he utilizes suction-cup hands to pass back to his man if need be, and if his man passes back to him, he can utilize a solid post move backing down his man. Mihm can display a solid hook shot or at times even a solid turnaround jumpshot. If left open, Mihm has shown the ability to knock down shots all the way to 18 feet at times, displaying some touch in his shot. Last season particularly and in spurts of this season, Mihm showed his athleticism and often utilized his wingspan and solid leaping ability for electrifying one-hand dunks. Mihm has solid touch around the basket and can score around there given openings as well. Mihm is one of the better offensive centers in today’s league, displaying a solid inside-outside game.

Mihm is capable of getting to the line at a decent clip and has always displayed good touch, although the results from the stripe weren’t always there in seasons past. Mihm started to gain a little more consistency from the stripe this year, shooting at 72% away from the sub-70%’s he shot during his last three seasons.

Mihm is a solid, but not a real spectacular rebounder, for his size. He does box out however, and can snatch rebounds with his wingspan and athleticism. Like fellow big man Kwame Brown, he has a good nose for offensive rebounding.

Mihm is a solid post defender with his frame and physical attributes; in the post, he would bend down in a crouching defensive position and anticipate when to contest the shot. Mihm showed some prowess in weakside shotblocking in years past, and he is still a solid shotblocker with the Lakers (1.24 a game), just not as much. His wingspan and athleticism definitely help in this area. Mihm is solid on defense, not spectacular, but not a liability either with regards to his position.

Mihm hasn’t exactly broken out into a star, especially with the high expectations that were set on him (drafted as the 7^th pick in the 2000 draft), but he’s proven himself to be an adequate role player who could bring reliable offense and decent defense from the center position. Mihm made a solid impact in his rookie season and made similar impacts relative to his playing time during the years after that.

Weaknesses:

Mihm’s major weakness is the fact that he is extremely foul prone, although that was more evident last season. However, Mihm also developed some injuries this year that caused him to miss 23 games as well.

Mihm’s foul-prone aspects may take him completely out of games at times, and at times he would pick up two quick fouls in the middle of the first quarter and would have to sit down because of it. Mihm’s play is usually based on how many fouls he holds, and he rarely makes an impact when saddled with foul trouble, causing him to play minimally. This is especially evident on defense, where Mihm tends to use his hands a bit too much despite moving his feet at the same time. He is not the smartest defender, and may also be prone to jumping too early to block shots or biting on pump fakes to pick up fouls. Mihm hasn’t exactly improved on this over the course of the season as well. Mihm has the tools on defense with length and solid aggressiveness but he just hasn’t found level ground with them, using them unnecessarily at times.

On off-the-ball defense, Mihm isn’t particularly good and he definitely can get burned or outmaneuvered by athletic and quicker wing players, leading him to pick up more fouls. Mihm is a solid weakside shotblocker but that seems to have regressed somewhat over the course of the season, and he’s not making as much of an impact in this area than he did in the past. Overall, Mihm’s defense is primarily of the foul-prone type, although looking beyond that he is a solid defender.

Mihm may seem a bit too robust and mechanical offensively, especially with his post moves. His post moves can be a bit predictable based on his movements and the mechanical aspects of it. On the court, he tends to be a bit upright such as when running the court as well. In terms of his offensive game, Mihm has somewhat of a flat-release point to his jumpshot and that shows especially in his free throw shooting, as a result he sometimes misses some of those shots.