2024 NBA Draft Prospect: Tidjane Salaun

A 6'9" forward with positional versatility, athleticism, and a go-to shot on offense, Tidjane Salaun has been moving into the Top-10 on mock drafts.

2024 NBA Draft prospect: Tidjane Salaun (Cholet - France)

Height without shoes, Weight, and Age when NBA season begins: 6’9”, 217 pounds, 19 years old

Standing reach and wingspan: 9’2” standing reach, 7’2” wingspan

Mock average: 10.5

7 Observations

• Versatility: Salaun can use his size and length to switch across multiple positions. He has the size of a power forward at 6’9” and 217 pounds, but he played a lot more out on the wing like a small forward with Cholet.

• Shooting: Salaun’s go-to shot on offense is the spot-up three. He has stable form on his spot-up three, and he can shoot it either off the hop or the 1-2. Since he wasn’t one of the primary or even secondary creators on offense, he had to learn to navigate along the arc and find a way to make himself a shooting target for a kick out pass. If shooting will be his ready-to-go skill at the NBA level, he’ll have to work on his accuracy. He shot just 32% on a 3-point line that is the equivalent to an NBA corner three. The distance on the arc 3s in the NBA will be even further, and until he gets that number closer to the 40% range, NBA teams are going to test him from three by leaving him open on some possessions.

• On-ball Offense: A lot of Salaun’s drives came out of driving the close out from the 3-point line. Teams knew the outside shot was his preferred shot, so they often tried to run him off the 3-point line which allowed him to attack. He’s still developing when driving the ball, but he showed some finishing at the rim with layups or dunks, and there were some instances where he could throw the pass to an open corner shooter, or teammate out on the arc. When in the flow of the offense and the team is moving the ball around the perimeter, Salaun does a good job of not letting the ball stick. There aren’t many possessions when he’s holding on to the ball for too long, unless it’s a drive. He’s ready to move the ball around quickly.

• Off-ball Offense: As mentioned above, Salaun is mainly roaming the perimeter to see how he can make himself a target from three. There were some instances though where he caught his defender not paying attention to him in the corner, so he cut baseline and would finish an alley-oop dunk if his teammate saw him. He also showed some give-and-go playmaking action, by throwing the ball to a teammate up top, and then quickly cutting to the paint for a layup attempt.

• On-ball Defense: When guarding his opponent sideline-to-sideline, Salaun is able to stay in front of his defender and shrink the court with multiple teammates around in the halfcourt. There are times though an opponent can attack him off the dribble and get by him, if the opponent is able to start his dribble drive with a bit of momentum. Salaun also does a decent job of closing out on jump shots. He may not collect many blocks, but his length can lead to good contests. In terms of rim protection, Salaun is more cautious in not gambling for aggressive blocks. If he’s able to, he puts both hands up and tries to use his 9’2” standing reach and verticality to try to prevent layup attempts near the rim.

• Off-ball Defense: Salaun can play good deny defense on some possessions. There are inbounds plays where he can make getting a pass to the player he’s guarding quite difficult, and if he gets a clean steal, he can take the ball down to the other end and dunk it. He can also anticipate passing lanes and if a risky pass is thrown and he sees it, he can get a deflection and take it down to the other end of the court. There are times though when he can get too focused on the ball and if the opponent he’s guarding leaves his blind spot, that opponent can cut in for a backdoor layup or dunk.

• Rebounding: Salaun doesn’t get a lot of rebounds when there’s a lot of traffic around the paint, but if it’s a possession with maybe one offensive rebounder and 2-3 of his teammates, he’s usually able to secure the board and push the ball to the other side of the court.

Do the Spurs have interest in Salaun?

Yes. According to Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report, Salaun has or will earn a workout with the Spurs.

In mid-May, several teams thought the Spurs could be one of the lottery teams to select Salaun.

What do other draft experts say about Salaun?

• Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer: Off-ball defense, positional versatility, hustle

• Jeremy Woo of ESPN: Intriguing mix of physical skills and two-way potential

• Krysten Peek of Yahoo! Sports: Vast potential as an NBA wing

• NBA Draft Room: Freaky athletic, talented, high energy, awesome driver, impressive 3-point shooter for his size

• Sam Vecenie of the Athletic: Big forward with some perimeter skill, smooth stroke, plays hard, terrific basketball character

What are Salaun’s NBA comps?

• My comps: Obi Toppin, Keegan Murray

• Woo of ESPN: Low end Maurice Harkless to high end of Jerami Grant or Kyle Kuzma

• Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer: Chandler Parsons

• NBADraftRoom.com: Michael Porter Jr.

• Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report: Obi Toppin

Read about other Draft Prospects: Alexandre Sarr | Zaccharie Risacher | Nikola Topic | Ron Holland | Rob Dillingham | Stephon Castle | Dalton Knecht | Reed Sheppard | Donovan Clingan | Matas Buzelis | Cody Williams

How would Salaun fit on the San Antonio Spurs?