2025 NBA Draft: Nolan Traore Is The Next French Star

The 2025 NBA Draft is clearly much deeper and stacked compared to the 2024 NBA Draft. One prospect who helps make this a great draft is Nolan Traore.

Nolan Traore / fiba.basketbal

The 2025 NBA Draft is still a ways away,but as of today, it looks far deeper with much better talent at the top of the draft. For two straight years, we have seen a French player selected with the number one overall pick. In 2023, it was Victor Wembanayama, and in 2024, it was Zaccharie Risacher.

Is there any chance it can be three years in a row?

French point guard Nolan Traore is a prospect that shouldn’t be taken lightly. In his last two games for Saint-Quentin he is averaging 23.5 points and 7.5 assists per game while shooting 50% from the field and 38.9% from behind the arc. Traore has really blossomed these last two games after struggling to get much going in his first two games.

It’s obvious he can be productive while winning games, but it’s all the superstar skills and flashes he shows that make him so highly regarded and loved by NBA scouts. Traore has great positional size for a point guard as he stands at 6-foot-5 with a 6-foot-8 wingspan, which will allow him to defend both guard positions effectively. He’s not a defensive stopper by any means but the tools are there for him to be a capable defender

Traore is an elite on-ball creator as he’s very shifty, quick and plays with an exceptional change of pace. His acceleration and deceleration is special. He’s in rare air with how well he gets to the rim. Traore is a walking paint touch that finds a way to relentlessly get to the rim. He’s a dynamic finisher with a ton of craftiness and finesse in his game. Outside of being a versatile finisher, he’s also a good shot-maker that’s a proven scorer.

Although he does need to improve his in-between game a little bit, he still shows promise as a three-level scorer. The French point guard is a maestro out of the pick and roll. He has shown the ability to make any type of pass or read out of ball screens and does a great job with his screen manipulation. The 6-foot-5 true point guard is a great playmaker who has advanced court vision and is very creative with his passes.

Traore is only 18 years old but he plays very maturely for his age. He’s a complete offensive player who has a great balance between scoring and playmaking. Overall he’s one of the top offensive talents in this year’s draft. No one in this draft compares to his ability to create and run an offense as effectively as he does. 

Traore shows flashes of superstar qualities and that shouldn’t be taken lightly. The season is still young so you will have plenty of opportunities to watch Traore play live for Saint-Quentin in the LNB Pro A league.

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