NOLAN TRAORE
Position/Archetype: Old School Speed Demon Point Guard
College: (Pro) Saint Quentin - France
Pros:
First Step and General Speed: Very speedy and what contributes to is greatest strengths in his point guard ability that we will get to. Not a lot of people have the first step that Traore has and how quickly he can accelerate up the court and bursting round a screen. Speed Demon.
Transition Decision Making and Production: A 70th Percentile Transition player and it honestly feels quite low, he has the ability to pick up that ball from defence and just outpace everyone in front of him and players struggle to stop him without initiating contact which can lead to some nice and 1 finishes. He also has great passing decision making finding a trailing man for an open three or finding the man running into the lane for open shots.
Pick And Roll handling: 63rd percentile in pick and roll ball handling, not crazy again but it's the instincts and tools of the guy that stick out to me. Being able to run the pick and roll will be great for him day 1. Do I think he can run a NBA offence day? not at all, but I can see him running a lot as a player in the second rotation who is smart enough and has the vision as a playmaker.
Length: Quick stop off here, just heard he has a 6'8 wingspan which is great for someone who's 6'4 so maybe we can see more use of those long arms.
Catch and Shoot 3 ball: 71st percentile which is quite surprising for someone as a low as Nolan Traore in general 3pt shooting but he does average a very good number of the catch and I think in general we can see him use this more to his advantage as someone who isn't a bad off ball mover he can be used alongside someone bigger who can add some extra playmaking to utilise this.
Pro Experience: sometime this gets overrate but I think in this example it shows off how tough Nolan has had it and what this can do for him. The LNB Pro A is a great league and a very difficult one where he is playing with people with NBA experience to some level as well as some very good young talent within the nation. Traore being a starter at 18 and recently turning 19 having a 30%USG is an extremely daunting task for the teen. No Wonder he had a somewhat disappointing year. I think there's a lot he will have gained being a pro for this last year with these teammates and playing in the system where he is trusted on ball. Not a lot of damage can be done that way.
Cons:
Shot Selection: One of my things with Traore is he is too willing to just take a tough pull up shot wether thats from three or some crazy stepback mid range or three and I know why because he can make space and thats something he will want to show to be the main guy on a team that eh can be trusted down the stretch to make tough shots but it really hit him and he did it on horror efficiency.
Shot Map: He shoots really bad percentages all across the court wether at the rim or the three, at certain spots he has done pretty well but usually at lower volume and as I said earlier a lot is him taking bad looks and shots he makes at a low efficiency but if he can't develop and learn from this year its not gonna get easier in the NBA so he needs to work on scoring specifically in the half court but also just being a smarter decision maker as a scorer.
On Ball Defence: Not great at all on ball, does he have energy? sure and he's trying but he gets shoved he doesn't keep his body in front of his man consistently and playing in the French league its gonna be tougher playing seasoned players with large bags who are stronger physically so we can take it with a pinch of salt but i'm definitely somewhat worried that he is maybe too skinny or cant keep up laterally
Some turnover notes: nothing that scares me at all, isn't a perfect Ast/To ratio but he doesn't commit a large number of turnovers he does have some issues but mostly just forces some stuff so im feeling fine about it.
NBA Pro Comp: Some type of Tony Parker with worse shooting, Deron Williams?
Projection: I think to raise that floor he haas to become a more reasonable on ball defender so if he puts some wight on he will find long term backup roles in a rotation, but he has a game that can definitely translate into a future starter too.
CHEESE FINAL BOARD RANKING: (coming soon)