2024 NBA Draft Scouting Report: Tidjane Salaun

Certain prospects have physical tools that pop to even the most novice fans and evaluators right away. This isn’t just the Zion Williamson and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the world, but even your Derrick Jones Jr. and Tyrus Thomas types. Their athleticism is so eye-catching that it immediately makes viewers think maybe he could be something, he’s obviously got the physical tools. One player who fits that description in this class is French forward Tidjane Salaun.

Salaun spent last season with Cholet who played in France’s first division and the FIBA Basketball Champions League. At 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-1 wingspan and solid speed and mobility for his size, he was easily one of the top athletes in both competitions. His athleticism, defensive IQ and skill, and ability to finish plays at the rim and from beyond the arc made him a key player for Cholet. He played nearly 24 minutes per game across all competitions and averaged 9.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.1 steals on 41/32/75 shooting splits. 

Those stats may not pop like his athleticism, but his age should — Salaun will still only be 18 on draft day. Similar to fellow Frenchmen Zacharie Risacher, Salaun was essentially the leader of his team on the defensive end this season and managed the responsibility exceptionally well for his age. With his young age, words and phrases like upside, potential, and plenty of room to grow get thrown around easily with Salaun. 

While that’s understandable, it’s important to note that being young doesn’t guarantee a player gets better over the next one, two, three, or even four seasons. There have been countless examples of this in the past few years alone, like Sekou Doumbouya. Throughout this report we will highlight reasons to believe in Salaun’s upside, and reasons for caution. Like any prospect, predicting his future is impossible. Evaluate the evidence we present for yourselves and while we will offer our own conclusion, you should make your own too. 

Tidjane Salaun NBA Draft Info

Height: 6-foot-9

Wingspan: 7-foot-1

Standing reach: 9-foot-2

Weight: 203

Birthdate: Aug 10, 2005

Position: Forward

Offensive Role: Play finisher

Defensive Role: Jack of all trades

Projected draft range: Lottery

Highlights?

Strengths: 

What has Salaun not just in the lottery but inside the top 10 of some mock drafts is primarily his athleticism, frame, and defense. The former attributes contribute heavily to the latter but are not the sole reason for his prowess on that end. They certainly help though. 

Salaun’s combination of size, length, speed, lateral quickness, and quick-twitch athleticism is absurd. He covers an insane amount of ground laterally and space vertically. He can help in the lane and get back out to the perimeter to contest a shot easily. His impact at the rim wore on teams throughout the season, deterring opponents from driving. He’s active in passing lanes, benefitting from not just his physical tools but also his mental acumen which helps him intercept passes and convert them into easy points at the other end. 

His off-ball impact and on-ball impact are roughly the same, with both being elite. Salaun is comfortable guarding anyone on the perimeter including smaller guards. A constant theme by the end of the season was that Salaun’s man was seldom used as a screener because if he was, Cholet would switch the action and opposing guards attacking him off the dribble was far from efficient offense. 

Another testament to Salaun’s versatility was that Cholet mixed zone into their defensive schemes, and Salaun was used in a variety of spots, both high and low. He seemed equally capable of leading on-ball pressure or protecting the rim. Not many 18-year-olds are capable of one of those things at the professional level, let alone both. 

As far as defensive prospects go in this class, Salaun is arguably as good as anyone else - Risacher, Alex Sarr, Donovan Clingan, Ryan Dunn, etc. The floor and upside are both comfortably there. But the offensive end is where Salaun’s game is still, well, considerably limited. There are a few promising attributes here though. The first is as a catch-and-shoot three-point threat. 

Salaun was 32 percent from beyond the arc on 237 attempts this season, decent accuracy for volume at his age. He also shot 38 percent on unguarded catch-and-shoot 3s per Synergy Sports, showing an ability to make teams pay for leaving him open. Shooting, especially in the modern NBA, is about more than accuracy though. Accuracy is the most important thing, don’t lose sight of that, but confidence is a huge factor. Salaun appears to have loads of it, letting catch and shoot threes fly with what appears to be zero regard for whether the shot is a good one or bad one. 

As shooting has taken over the NBA, letting it fly with confidence can overcome slightly less accurate marks from deep — just ask Marcus Smart. Looking like a shooter can often make opponents treat you like one due to the absurd amount of accurate shooters teams have at their disposal these days. And while making threes is the number one goal, being able to make opponents defend you like you make a lot of threes is also a beneficial outcome. Salaun might be able to do both, and hopefully, throughout his career, he grows out of dependence on the latter and into the refined skillset of genuinely being a good shooter. 

Salaun is primarily a play finisher on the offensive end. Catch and shoot 3-pointers are one element of that, and the other is cutting and finishing at the rim. This takes many forms with Salaun, but primarily lobs. Cholet had some decent lob passers who were able to connect with Salaun on plays like this at a decent frequency. 

Salaun’s athleticism helps with this but so does his motor. On defense and offense, he is constantly in motion, sometimes when he shouldn’t be but his measurement of whether he should space or cut is solid for his age. Salaun is always in flux, which makes guarding him wear down his opponents and accentuates his athletic advantages. This skillset appears to be one Cholet didn’t fully capitalize on this season. Their squad had fine passers, no great ones. There are plenty of examples of Salaun cutting, diving, and dashing into open space and beating his defender to no avail. Teammates missed him regularly. Hopefully in the NBA, he has a teammate with a skillset to feed his appetite. 

Weaknesses: 

Many of Salaun’s weaknesses are on the offensive end. It’s not that he doesn’t have weaknesses on defense, he does, but they are nominal. He’s not as physical as you’d like him to be and is generally a little weak, but that’s not a surprise at 18. Sometimes, he over helps. Not often, but he gets caught ball-watching or tends to drift to it like a magnet and abandon his assignment. These weaknesses happen infrequently and should improve with repetition and physical growth. 

On offense, Salaun has numerous weaknesses that are, well, obvious. He has zero bag or self-creation. Genuinely none. Watching him put the ball on the floor and attempt to do anything other than a straight drive to the basket is borderline terrifying. His handle is weak. He’s entirely incapable of dribbling through traffic and cannot create any separation one-on-one. 

His footwork off the catch is awful. Honestly, he should probably get called for more travels. It doesn’t matter if he’s shooting, putting the ball on the floor for a size-up, or trying to attack a closeout. For all his explosiveness, his first step gets him nowhere and creates zero advantages. This has to change. If Salaun wants to be an NBA player he must at minimum improve his footwork to a level where it at the very least is not detrimental to his athleticism. 

With the exception of his catch-and-shoot 3s and simple drive finishes, Salaun’s touch is, at best, alarming. Mid-range pull-ups, runners, and other shots tended to clang off the backboard, miss the rim entirely, or even go over the backboard. No, that last one is not a joke. This in-between game is not an absolute necessity for Salaun, but the list of things he can’t do on offense is notably larger than the things he can do. His current skill set would be easy for anyone to gameplan for. 

And lastly, Salaun does not seem to be a good decision-maker. He can occasionally execute a drive and kick, but, particularly as a roll man, his IQ on the offensive end and execution are abysmal. It’s so bad that Cholet did not use him as a roll man that much this season, less than four percent of his possessions per Synergy Sports. He makes Evan Mobley look like a short-roll god. 

Final summary: 

A surface-level look at Salaun might let you convince yourself he’s the sleeper of this draft. With his frame and athleticism, 3-point confidence, and high-flying finishes he looks like the next Aaron Gordon. Who wouldn’t want that? 

But a deeper dive shows fractures and raises cause for concern. How much of a lob threat can he be if he doesn’t have the other basic skills of a roll man? If his shooting accuracy doesn’t improve, do NBA teams eventually catch on and learn to embrace his zero-hesitation bombs from beyond the arc? Is his release quick enough for the NBA? Can his footwork get better? Can he add anything more to his offensive game besides the most basic play finishing? 

At such a young age, there is time for Salaun to grow these elements of his game. In the right environment, with the right development plan, there is a world where a few seasons from now he’s somewhere on the Obi Toppin and Gordon scale. That might not be the best value early in the lottery but is more appealing as you get outside of the top 10, especially in a class like this one. 

Salaun will be worth the gamble for someone but whatever team selects him must prepare themselves for the roller coaster ride his early years will bring. The shot will come and go, and highlight reel-stuffing dunks will be met with puerile turnovers. Embrace what he offers defensively, and root for him through his growing pains on the other end. If those pains become gains, he might be good enough to start in this league one day. He could also flame out entirely in a couple of seasons. We lean towards the former, but the latter outcome is still entirely plausible.