2025 NBA Draft: Re-Evaluating Nolan Traore As a Prospect

Through seven games, Nolan Traore has taken massive leaps as a shooter that may force reconsideration on who he is as a prospect.

Oct 15, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; General view of a NBA Wilson basketball before the game between the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Coming into the 2024-25 season, massive questions lingered about Nolan Traore's willingness and effectiveness in finishing with his off-hand on drives. On 78 rim attempts across the 2023-24 LNB Pro A season and 2024 FIBA U18 Eurobasket, he finished with his left just 17% of the time. That in and of itself wouldn't be a major red flag, but when combined with his below-the-rim finishing and non-elite shotmaking, then arose concerns about his status as a top-five prospect. If he were to earn that status, it was clear he had to get drastically better at minimum one of the following: off-hand finishing or shooting proficiency.

Through seven games, he's done just that. While he hasn't improved all that much as a driver going towards and finishing with his left hand, he's shown substantial shooting improvements thus far, albeit a small sample size.

After having shooting priors of just 27.9% 3PT on 459 attempts in his career, he's shot 36.6% on 41 attempts. That's after going 1-for-6 (16.7%) in his first two games, too, shooting a scorching hot 14-of-35 (56%) since then. Maybe just as impressively, and what could be an indicator of this shooting leap being real, is that he's putting up over 11 threes per 48 minutes. These aren't just hesitant threes that are luckily going in, Traore's shooting these at a high volume with supreme confidence.

He's been ruthless punishing defenders going under a ballscreen, shooting 35.7% on pull-up threes after landing at 28.6% last season. And when driving lanes are open and he puts his head down, his improved shooting touch has translated to other areas of scoring as he's at 8-of-17 (47.1%) on non-rim twos (midrange jumpshots, floaters, etc). That number is also superbly impressive as he was at under 40% on non-rim twos for his career prior to this season.

Improved shooting over a larger sample size would add another legitimate wrinkle to his repertoire, as it opens up avenues for him to impact off the ball. If he's able to consistently knock down catch-and-shoot threes and force defenders to start closing out hard, that opens up his off-the-catch driving opportunities where he can win with his speed, touch, and decision-making. Providing value here while he isn't fully-guaranteed to be a star on-ball creator in the NBA — with his lack of height, vertical athleticism, and driving/finishing versatility — would be huge.

Given the increase in efficiency, confidence and volume all at once, across multiple areas on the floor, and across multiple shot types, Traore's shooting leap may just be real. And if it is, he may just lock himself into a top-five slot on draft night, if not higher. Continuing to display the level of confidence and accuracy that he has will be key to that.

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