Salaun is still very young. He's going to be 18 on draft night and won't turn 19 until October.
I don't think Salaun is very lengthy for his position, he's either around the average height or slightly above that, which isn't bad. He's 6'9, and I've read that in most places the average for a PF is deemed to be 6'8 (some places have it at 6'9). Salaun may not be appealingly tall, but he might just be enough even with him being slightly above the average (or the average). At least he's not undersized.
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Worries:
Extra film on Salaun would've been good, but the film I was able to see was solid and still showed a lot about his game (and it wasn't a small amount of tape either... it would've been nice to see more film though).
Not sure how much I like Salaun's shot, but I'm leaning more into disliking it. He seems pretty inconsistent. For a big man, his form doesn't look too bad (I wouldn't say it's perfect), he's confident, and he can hit, but again, not consistently. His best nights tend to be nights where he makes only slightly above half of his shots, rarely does he make all of them. He's either ehh or okay, or he's just bad, attempting multiple shots, getting good looks, and only making one or two shots out of 7 or 6. Some of his shots aren't the best looks as well, but like I just said, even when he does have nice looks, he still doesn't hit. He pulls up from deep a bit too much for my liking, but he's not awful when he does, more like 50/50. Not sure how much I like his step-back shots, something he puts up a lot too (feel like it's less than 50/50 when he attempts those). He wasn't good from the FT line finishing the season 69%, but for a PF, it could've been worse. He wasn't the greatest from three either, finishing the season 32%, but he also could've been a lot worse, he was closer to being subpar than bad. I don't hate his shot, but there's some concerns as to how good his shot actually is, and his splits don't sell me too much that he's going to be a good shooter. I feel like he could be mediocre in the league, not awful, but not someone who's going to be known for knocking down shots.
Not bad at the rim just don't think he's great either. He can have some solid nights finishing at the rim, but he tends to be more mediocre than anything. His good nights at the rim tend to be nights where his finishing at the rack isn't very contested and at the most, he's enduring minimal contact. They also tend to be nights where he doesn't have to create for himself all that much, his teammates create for him to score at the basket. A noticeable amount of his points in the paint come from put backs too, not him really fighting for points. He can still have his own nice takes and some slams, but it's not frequent. He's not driving to the rim as much as he could be, some nights he only finished 2 or 3 times at the hoop. Feel like he doesn't play too well against contact, not to say he's awful, but his misses tend to be from him not enduring the contact applied to him too well. Salaun got fouled a lot before he could get to the rim, and he wasn't converting those fouls into and-1s, guess that kind of correlates with him and his ability to play through pressure as well... but more so it makes it a bit harder to grasp how good of a finisher Salaun is since he wasn't given the opportunity to showcase his ability too much. I don't think Salaun is a bad finisher at the rim, but his lack of volume at times, his lack of impressive takes and creating for himself and playing through contact successfully, as well as him not consistently having good nights at the basket is enough for me to put this as a worry.
I don't really like Salaun as a rebounder, but he's not a lost cause. It looks like he can get boards on film, half of his games are matches where he gets a fine number of rebounds, but he only averaged 4.1 rebounds per game (2.8 being defensive, which isn't good) this season, which is below the average for a PF (but could be worse). The rebounds he does get aren't too fought for; I think minor contact is the most contact I've seen him endure to get a board. He does get offensive rebounds sometimes (1.3 per game which is whatever), and those he tends to fight for more... but still, even when he does fight for a board, it's nothing impressive and he still doesn't have to do much. As for the efforts he makes before getting a rebound, there's not much. He'll jog or sprint to the glass before the ball is coming down, but he'll likely have a wide lane where he can pretty easily get the ball without having to bulldoze over other opponents or teammates (he might with a teammate, but not bulldoze just kind of steal it from them), but he doesn't even do that consistently. He can also box-out, but he has one of the least effective and honestly funniest box-outs I've ever seen. His box outs are not impactful at all, because they're so weirdly executed. He finds a body, he does the normal box-out procedure or whatever (not always, sometimes he can trip on his opponent, pull the chair on himself and fall down, or have a very lackluster box-out), he SEES the ball start coming down, then for some reason a cool down for his jump hits him while still boxing out, he jumps too late, and gets out-rebounded by his opponent who actually looked focused and not lost on what was happening. Again, his main issue is he's not going up for the ball on time, he lacks awareness which makes his box-outs not work at all. No, this isn't a one-time thing, this is almost every box out where he reacts to late and gets outrebounded by smaller guys... he can really show his age. Another reason he doesn't get many rebounds is because at times he struggles to get a firm grip of the ball when he does have a chance to pick up a board. Although this doesn't happen too often, it happens more than it should as sometimes he's just tipping the ball up in the air instead of palming it, coming down, and retaining possession. Even when he has good hand placement on the ball and should not lose it, he can still lose it. Overall, not great. He doesn't get many boards, he does make some efforts, but it's not pretty and he's still very flawed. He needs to be more controlled when trying to get a rebound, and then maybe he could be a decent board getter, wouldn't be too surprised if he does improve as a rebounder due to his length and some of his willingness to get a loose ball.
It's not often Salaun is showcasing his ball handle. When he does, he's mostly not turning it over (did do so like twice), but there's nothing to like or be impressed by. He doesn't have much of an offensive bag other than for a step-back and the occasional tween (tries to utilize a spin-move but it is not effective at all), and his dribbles can look a bit forced and like he's pounding them too much, and a little contradictory, but it can also look like his dribbling is loose and like he's not using enough strength. His dribbling isn't pretty, he shows he can do the bare minimum and at least has the fundamentals going for him, which even that still looks a bit rough and like it could use some work. I wouldn't say he's bad, but he's not good. Him not showcasing his ball handling too much makes it harder to grasp how good he is in this aspect, but there's probably a reason he's not showcasing it. I wouldn't really want the ball in Salaun's hands right now due to some of the questions he has, but I guess I wouldn't be opposed to him doing something with the ball with small usage.
It was a little hard to grasp Salaun's athleticism purely from his film. He would show glimpses of a fine vertical and some great speed with a quick burst, but it wasn't often he showed those flashes and most of the time he wasn't really showing much athleticism. Sometimes he would showcase his high motor, but it was 50/50 whether he did or not as sometimes he wasn't really trying that hard or he may have been unengaged (think that might've just been him showing his age, not him not wanting to try) + the argument can really be made that Salaun's high motor is just him being out of control. To make an opinion on Salaun's athleticism, I kind of had to reach a little and I ended up with the idea that he was somewhat athletic. His combine performances made things a bit clearer though, and disappointing. Honestly, Salaun didn't do good in any of the drills. Salaun's agility testing, where he showed the most promise on tape, was below mediocre and he was either average, below that, or bad in the speed tests. His vertical testing was just as bad as his speed drills, with him being below mediocre overall. Disappointing, kind of bombed the day. I do think his high motor made him look quicker than he actually is, and it's just him either being out of control or trying to do too much which made him look engaged, and his vert looked fine, but it could be credited to his length as to how and why he has was getting some okay dunks and why it looked like he was getting up there on some his close-outs (I guess him not having the best vert isn't too surprising as he lacked some explosiveness at times and he had a couple of missed dunks which he could've finished, even if they were a little tough). Overall, I guess the film was deceiving, but there wasn't much to go off of in the first place and there were only flashes of hope so it shouldn't be too big of a surprise that his combine performances tell another story. Seems like Salaun isn't very athletic... give credit to his motor (and I guess his length) which made him look more athletic and specifically quicker than he actually is.
Salaun can move off the ball, but often his efforts don't lead to anything impactful for his team. A lot, if not most of his off-ball movement is just repositioning, mostly near the paint (where the ball doesn't get to him even when he asks for it and when he has an ok matchup/space to work with). He can have some cuts; he had some baseline cuts and half of them led to a successful bucket (wished he performed more baseline cuts because of how effective they seemed). Rarely cuts directly to the forefront of the basket, did so like twice. Sets a couple of screens and rolls them (not fully though), but not too often, and they don't really serve any other purpose other than for helping him reposition in the paint (which again, has little to no impact. Uses some of the little speed he has at times on transition to get open lanes, but the ball never gets to him, so his effort doesn't lead to anything. He's not inactive off-ball, but I feel like he could be doing more, and his off-ball movement doesn't amount to anything 50 percent of the time, and I also feel like he's not looking to score of his off-ball movement too much. Not bad though but could be better.
Salaun is rather slim, but I'm not too sure how big of an issue his weight really is. He's nearly 20 pounds below the average for a PF, that's not ideal. He doesn't look too skinny on film, and his weight doesn't seem to create any issues towards his game, other than his ability to play through contact and rebound efficiently, which I don't think are huge issues right now (but still things he should improve on). Considering he's also 6'9, this creates more worries as to how dire it is for him to put on some more muscle. Personally, I don't think his weight is that big of a problem currently, but it is still a problem, and it will help him if he fills up his frame so he could play better through contact, rebound better, and be a better offensive force in the paint (defensively as well).
For someone playing 23 minutes per game he could've been having more of an impact towards his team. He finished his season at Cholet with lackluster stats and with him not always performing well in games or having much of an effect.
Salaun is very raw as a prospect. He gives in effort, he has the right idea occasionally, but his execution in a lot of things is just bad and his feel for the game just isn't there yet. His movements don't look fluid, he can look rough, he can be out of control and trying to do too much which sometimes creates issues for his teams, defensively he's still raw (as you'll read about soon), offensively he's raw, he needs to be more precise with what he's doing, more aware, and execute his game better. He shows potential, he shows glimpses of not being bad at the things he's still rough at, but his age can definitely show at times, and he needs to control himself and refine his overall play. It's not every match where he looks completely raw, but it seems to be most. You hope Salaun can improve though due to his effort (even if it's not too consistent), which might make him a more moldable player and more coachable alongside his age, but he has his ways to go to be a better and polished player who can be more effective on a team and less of a possible liability. He's flawed offensively and defensively, but currently, he's slightly more refined offensively due to his movements and decisions being better, even if he still has some pretty important issues he needs to take care of and isn't too efficient offensively.
Could lower his turnovers, 1.4 per game. Not a big concern though.
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Dislikes:
Salaun isn't very good defensively. He is at times making efforts in this side of the game, but he's super raw and unpolished, leading for him to not have much of an impact at all and instead create scoring opportunities for the opposing team. He's not effective on-ball or off-ball, and overall, I feel like he's not very active defensively. He has this issue off-ball where he likes to provide help-defense to his teammates, but, his help is either too late or too early, and he's mostly providing help when his teammates don't need it, leading for him to double an opponent who was already being handled, leave his man wide open somewhere, create a shot opening for said wide open player, not be able to rotate in time him or his teammates to close out on the shot (sometimes they're able to), which all accumulates into his team getting scored on. Salaun did this a lot, and I didn't see why teams didn't take as much advantage of that as they should've, because they could've gotten great looks. Continuing with his off-ball defense, he doesn't have the best close outs. He's not bad, he's mediocre. At times he might not give much effort off-ball to contest a shot, he might get there too late, or his close-out is just weird (he does the Kornet thing where he jumps up high, puts two arms up, and makes it hard to see the rim, which to be fair, seemed to work fine because it's not often he got scored on with one of those close-outs on the perimeter). His rotations are 50/50, sometimes he doesn't rotate, or he has fine rotations where he's there on time to prevent a shot without having to close out (aura). His close-outs on-ball seem to be more effective as his length forces bad shots more often, so he gets scored on less, but still gets scored on. Salaun can pick up a couple of steals, it's not every game he's getting steals, but in like half of his games he did pick up one or two steals... he averaged 1.1 per game this season, which is above the average for a PF and a solid amount. He did fumble some of the steals he got, some weren't created by him, but he still contributed or fully forced some of those turnovers which turned into steals (if he got a steal, it was mostly from intercepting a poor pass or reading a pass well), but it's not too often he was fully to credit. For someone who's lengthy and a "big body", he's not much of a defensive presence in the paint. He got scored on a lot under the basket, didn't go for blocks, wasn't making much of an impact, really only hoped for the best by walling up, and while it did work at times, that wall up didn't feel consistent because I still remember him getting scored on multiple times, either by tough shots or lucky makes, but he was getting scored on. Considering he doesn't have an ideal weight for a PF, I don't see him being a presence in the paint soon. Only saw him get one block in a stretch of matches, and it got ruled a foul (finished the season averaged 0.2 blocks per game). About fouls, he's picking up too many, 2.6 per game... his fouls tend to be a little careless. Not a stranger to getting blown by, even if it's not fully. Feel like he struggles to prevent the drive too well, leading for him to have to guard his opponents' hip or semi getting blown by to where he's at an uncomfortable position and not in an ideal spot to go up for a contest or shot block, which is one of the main reasons he got scored on at the rim. He can sometimes apply pressure fine on the perimeter and keep up with the drive fine, but it's not that often and it's not that effective either, he has nights where he performs better though. He's a little jumpy, he can try to do too much on close-outs on-ball or off-ball, which either leads to a drive he can't recover on, or some way of his opponent scoring, either through an assist or by the space Salaun unintentionally created. Not a stranger on trying to gamble for steals either, it's not hard to see he can be too eager trying to force a turnover off-ball (mostly), which could be a problem because I've seen him get blown by twice and create other issues for his team from him trying to gamble defensively. Again, Salaun can give effort, he does look he's trying to impact the game defensively and make a difference (can have hustle plays too, even if their rather lack-luster and most likely unsuccessful), but quite frankly, that high motor of his is more of him being out of control, and at this point, I feel like he might be more of a liability than anything due to his rawness, his lack of awareness and really processing what to do next correctly, his lack of efficiency, his lack of impact, etc. He shows his age... I appreciate the effort, makes me think he might improve later on, but he's out of control right now and again, more of a liability than anything. His movements defensively don't look polished, and some games he looks rawer than others.
Passes the ball AT THE MOST 3 times per game. Shows he might be able to do at the very least the bare minimum, if not have one pass that is slightly above that, but nothing impressive and I don't expect him to be able to create or play make anytime soon, at least not in an eye-catching or effective way. He only averaged 1 assist per game and had a negative assist/turnover ratio of 0.71.
Had a bad FG percentage of 39%.
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Salaun is a very interesting prospect. People made it seem like he had nothing going for him and was a lost cause and too raw and easily a bust, and I do see why they make that argument, but I think some of y'all are exaggerating because he is not that bad. Some of the guys I've seen the draft community praise are rawer and show less upside than Salaun, and I know potential is a big factor in this draft, so I don't understand the hate all that much. I wouldn't say I'm a fan of Salaun though, I do think he is very raw, but he also shows promise and his high motor gives me hope he could develop better than some other prospects. He is flawed in almost every aspect of the game, so he's going to need some heavy work, but he's young, so he might be easier to mold. If Salaun pans out like he could, I think there is an argument he could be the best player of this class.
