Tidjane Salaun Scouting Report
This year's international lottery ticket
Name: Tidjane Salaun
Birth date: August 10, 2005
Height/Weight: 6’9/217
Wingspan/ standing reach: 7’1 ½/9’2
Hand size: 9 ¾
Position: SF
Pre-Draft team: Cholet
Tools: Athleticism, frame, shooting upside
Background: Comes from a basketball family. Played in Basketball Without Borders in 2023.
Season stats: 9.7 PPG 3.9 RPG 0.9 APG 1.1 SPG 0.2 BPG 1.3 TOPG 2.4 FPG in 23 MPG on 41/32/75
Pros:
Athletic and twitchy body; explodes well to the rim
Quick reaction times can help him win plays on defense
Shot has improved this season, and he is one of the youngest players in the draft; makes him easy to project getting better over time
Good cutter and moves with purpose off-ball
Good work ethic and has always been noted as a hard worker
Plays hard all the time; crazy hot motor
Long strides on drives
Cons:
Jumper improved since the 2022-23 season, but still needs lots of work in terms of consistency. Shot needs to be more compact
Plays out of control too often
Finds himself in foul trouble frequently
1-on-1 defense is a massive work in progress
Inefficient season, particularly away from the rim
Swing Skills:
When, if at all, does his jumper become a weapon?
Isolation defense needs a lot of work; easy to blow by and is prone to bad decisions on-ball
Are his wild plays growing pains or red flags?
Summary:
Tidjane Salaun is this year’s lottery ticket upside play as a rangy forward with athletic tools, a growing jumper, and a strong motor + work ethic that could drive him to hitting his ceiling.
Salaun shot is still far away, but it has come a long way in the last year. His mechanics are smoother and he has a quicker, more fluid release. His shot still needs to be sped up, but his jumper is difficult to block with a high release that looks to be getting better over time. His shot is far away, but there is attainable potential down the road for him to put it together, given a 3P% in the range of acceptable outcomes combined with his FT% of 75%. The bigger concern for Salaun is that he plays way too out of control, forcing bad shots in pressure situations, thus being prone to bad decisions. For Salaun, this is fixable given how much of a leash he had in a top professional league, but how quickly these poor tendencies come together is more of a question than if these tendencies get fixed.
Defensively, his frame and athleticism give him upside, but he is still far away from realizing and achieving that ceiling. His on-ball defense technique is poor, from his footwork to his overall approach and gambling. However, with long arms, a strong work ethic, and good athletic tools, these current woes are more fixable than most players with a similar list of concerns. While the defensive tools are appealing, they will take a while to turn into tangible success, which furthers why he is a long-term prospect.
Overall, while Salaun needs work in the short run to become playable in the NBA for a winning team, there is enough long-term promise that teams can afford to be patient through growing pains. If he hits his shooting upside, he has a safe rotation role as a big, athletic forward that can hit jumpers, which gives his floor a good rating (barring a disastrous development arc across decision-making). His ceiling, as one of the youngest players in the draft and the consensus ‘lottery ticket’, is a complete offensive forward that can hopefully grow to be a positive defender. The path is long and will go through ups and downs, but if he is drafted to a situation that suits him well, he is worth the patience.
Projected draft range: 8-17
Expected role: Combo forward that can grow into an on-ball threat offensively, with some mixed defensive value.
Unplayable if: Jumper remains theoretical, his decision-making doesn’t improve in time, and the work ethic doesn’t fix his defensive holes.
Exceeds expectations if: Jumper translates at a respectable level, he irons out his mistakes caused by youth, and he grows significantly as a defender, driven by his work ethic.
Videos:
Shot chart:
