Overview: A gifted, young, and athletic power forward who lacks the experience and polish to see significant minutes. Possesses good size and length for his position, and has packed on some muscle to his still somewhat skinny frame since entering the NBA. Displays good mobility and gets off the floor well. Nice athleticism for his size despite injury history. Intriguing physical tools along with rebounding and shot blocking instincts made him a prospect coming out of France. Spent two additional seasons in France after being drafted late in the first round by the Spurs. Showed some signs of improvement, a trend that has continued in his time playing with the Spurs NBADL affiliate, the Austin Toros. Still could develop into a nice roleplayer, but needs to stay healthy. Missed almost all of the 2008-2009 season with a bad ankle. Needs to get the development of his offensive game back on track and play minutes wherever he can in San Antonios organization.
Offense: Developing offensive player who shows flashes of potential. Gets most of his touches in the post or as a hustle player. Used to show extremely good lateral quickness that allowed him to create easy opportunities for himself on the inside and out. Time on the sidelines has hurt his explosiveness to a small degree and has generally slowed his development. Still able to use his speed to do some things in the post. Lacks the strength to consistently establish deep position, but shows a nice running hook over his left shoulder as well as developing turnaround and face up jumper. Displays very nice touch with his right hand around the rim across the board. Length makes his hook extremely difficult to block. Jumper is still a work in progress, looks capable when he has time and space, but lacks the mechanics to get good touch on every shot. Capable finisher around the basket who is able to do some damage on the offensive glass with his length. Gets to the line at a very good rate. Will go up strong when he has a lane to the rim. Needs to continue working on his post repertoire and left hand to take full advantage of the attempts he gets around the rim. Can put the ball on the floor with his back to the basket to get in better position to score, but is still a bit turnover prone. Will have to continue polishing his game from the midrange in to cut down on mistakes. Not much of a passer, but displays better vision than he did in his younger days. Has some obvious tools and potential, but definitely a work in progress on the offensive end.
Defense: Has very nice defensive tools, but still lacks the fundamentals to stay on the floor for extended minutes in an NBA setting. Length and athleticism allow him to effectively defend the midrange and contest shots, though his lack of physical strength hurts his ability to defend the paint against more experienced back to the basket scorers. Gets quite a few of his blocks defending the ball one-on-one. Needs to do a better job going straight up when hes rotating over from the weak-side. Still prone to hacking shooters, leading to foul trouble. Got a free pass during his time in the NBADL, but will need to continue improving his discipline to help himself translate to the NBA level. Quick hands and feet for a big man, could stand to add weight to become a more complete package defensively and improve his ability to box out and battle for position on the block.
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