Jonathan Jeanne’s performance at the NBA Draft Combine doesn’t tell the whole story

The NBA Draft Combine has come and gone, as our last opportunity to see NBA Draft prospects in a competitive environment finished over the weekend. Several players were able to help their stock in the NBA’s version of a meat market for athleticism. This year, there was one major beneficiary of the Combine: French center Jonathan Jeanne, a 19-year old whose appearance in Chicago was the first time many NBA fans had seen him.

Many who followed along with Combine events quickly fell in love with him, for obvious reasons. Jeanne tested out with some of the best measurables at the event, clocking in at nearly 7-foot-1 without shoes, with a 7-foot-6 wingspan and an unbelievable 9-foot-5 standing reach. Add in a 31.5-inch vertical leap, sixth among centers, and the fifth-best shuttle run, and you have quite the physical specimen.

Jeanne also showed potential in the drills, shooting pretty well on the spot-up shots and showing good mechanics that hint at stretch capabilities. He also participated in the 5-on-5 scrimmages, posting 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 26 minutes. He was so good that Draft Express called him “arguably the biggest winner of any Combine participant,” and nearly every major publication covering the draft mentioned him as a Combine winner. His performance in Chicago may have secured him as a first-round pick.

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There’s a problem with this line of thinking, however. Jeanne wasn’t even close to a sure first-rounder prior to this weekend. He was 43rd on our last big board, and most outlets didn’t have him above pick 30. He looks the part, yes, but his size hasn’t changed much throughout the season. Jeanne had a good Combine, yes. But to an extent, he’s the type of prospect the Combine was made for.

The Draft Combine focuses on five major components — anthropomorphic measurement, shooting, strength and agility, interviews, and a 5-on-5 scrimmage. It’s an opportunity for players who may have flown under the college basketball radar to show they can compete athletically. Naturally, Jeanne excelled in each aspect. His length was the story of the measurements. He showed off his reasonably solid shooting stroke and his ability to run the floor in strength and agility. And in 5-on-5, which is a bunch of players thrown together with minimal strategy, he excelled at using his athleticism to create plays on both ends.

However, the Combine also works to hide the reason that Jeanne couldn’t break through onto the senior team at Le Mans, and why he only averaged 13.0 minutes per game after a loan to Nancy Basket. The raw capabilities of Jeanne are great, which is why we’re talking about him. But in organized play, that same ability hasn’t materialized. Jeanne averaged just 3.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game for Nancy. How could someone so seemingly talented struggle to earn playing time for the last-place team in the French Pro A League?

Jeanne’s biggest impediment to NBA success appears to be his basketball IQ and awareness. At this point, he struggles to make smart plays and realize where opponents and teammates are on the floor. This is very prominent in rebounding, where Jeanne ball-watches as the shot goes up and routinely loses his man on box-outs.

He also struggles to read the ball off the glass at times, getting sucked in too far under the basket. He has potential here, thanks to his leaping ability and length, but his rebounding instincts at this juncture are pretty poor.

Jeanne also shows poor awareness on the offensive end in terms of spacing and execution. Plays like this, where Jeanne drifts into and stays in the path of a driving guard, are not uncommon.

He isn’t a very strong passer, with just a 5.9 percent assist rate versus a concerning 20.1 percent turnover rate. A shaky handle limits his on-ball capabilities, and he often tries to force passes.

He is better with awareness on the defensive end, which is promising, especially on the perimeter. However, his technique in the pick-and-roll leaves a lot to be desired, as he’s slow to recover to a roll man, and his hedging can be quite lazy.

He’s also a bit of a block-hunter, which limits his ability to protect the rim in a meaningful way. He struggles with the finer aspects of protecting the basket, which can lead to a high foul rate and drawing himself away from potential rebounds.

This overall lack of awareness paints a bad picture of Jeanne’s on-court capabilities. He struggles with even basic reads and tasks within an offense, and his inconsistent effort on defense will limit his ability to protect the rim. Watch film of Jeanne, and it’s easy to come away with the sort of vibes you’d get from watching youth film of another center prospect who ruled the Combine, but struggled to make meaningful impact.

Compounding Jeanne’s awareness problems are real strength concerns. Jeanne weighed in at just 207 pounds at the Combine, which is thinner than both Anzejs Pasecniks and Ivan Rabb, both of whom also have significant concerns. And while I’m usually a proponent of the NBA strength program to solve these issues, Jeanne struggles to use his body in a meaningful way. He’s easy to dislodge on drives, which was an issue during 5-on-5 play at the Combine, and has a habit of trying to contort away from contact, using only his length to stop a shot attempt.

Jeanne may look the part of an NBA player, but at this stage, he’s certainly a project. There’s just no way around it — Jeanne doesn’t have the mental feel and strength to compete on an NBA level. I’m particularly concerned about his lack of instincts on offense, as he will really struggle to play the five at an NBA level if he can’t rebound and doesn’t understand spacing.

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Just like Javale McGee, Anthony Randolph, and other Combine superstars of Jeanne’s mold, it’s important to take his Combine showing with a grain of salt. Super-long guys who can shoot a bit are made to look good here, and the stripped down atmosphere masks a lot of the awareness and feel issues that have been obvious on film. Jeanne is helped by being a player for a bad French League team, as not many have seen extensive film on him. But dig into that film a little bit, and it shows how important it is to consider both parts of his profile to come to a reasonable conclusion on his ceiling.