Dallas Basketball

Breaking Down Melvin Ajinca, the Dallas Mavericks' 2024 Second-Round Pick

The French wing has an NBA lineage and a game that will translate when he eventually arrives from overseas.

Keenan Womack

Dallas Mavericks forward Mevlin Ajinca
Dallas Mavericks forward Mevlin Ajinca / Romain Biard | Icon Sport via Getty Images
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Though he won't suit up for the Dallas Mavericks this season, the 51st pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, French wing Melvin Ajinca, has true potential as an athletic cutter and transition scorer who can also spot up and hit threes.

Melvin, whose cousin Alexis Ajinca played for the Mavericks during the 2010-2011 season, plays the off-guard role and occasionally the wing, and had a solid season last year with St. Quentin of LNB Pro A in France, playing alongside 2024 no. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher as well as future high-lottery pick Nolan Traore. He'll be playing this year with ASVEL, another club in the same league as his former team.

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Though raw in many areas, Ajinca is a high-level athlete who likes to attack closeouts, aided by his proclivity for spot-up three-point attempts and his slashing ability. This skill set translates especially well to his transition game, which is where he stands out. He is also excellent when using screens to his advantage, driving the lane off of actions that allow him to spring free from defenders and attack the rim.

Standing at 6-foot-8 and weighing 215 pounds, Ajinca has great size for his position, which helps his physicality on defense. Last year, he averaged 9.3 points per game and 3.3 rebounds, providing really solid defensive energy for a team that used him rotationally.

In this year's NBA Summer League, he had an encouraging performance against the Utah Jazz with 13 points and 5 rebounds, though his inconsistent shooting from beyond the arc showed itself in a 1-for-5 outing from three. He went 4/8 outside of these shots and 2/2 from the free-throw line, but Ajinca is still very much a work in progress.

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Not a player that will ever be relied upon to create his own shot, Ajinca is much more of a complimentary piece, someone that can work well with a primary initiator running the show and allowing him to operate off the ball. With ASVEL this season, he will play alongside point guards Theo Maledon and Paris Lee.

Though neither of these players are on the level of the aforementioned Nolan Traore, they are still guards with European basketball experience who will be able to create opportunities for the Mavericks' draft pick off the ball.

According to Synergy Sports, Ajinca is most effective when either on the break (69th percentile at 1.20 points per possession) or coming off of a screen (38.2% from deep in such possessions). If he can up his efficiency from deep, he can become a multi-dimensional player on offense while providing engagement on the defensive side of the ball.

Still, the French wing has a bit of developing to do before he can become a contributor at the NBA level, which explains the decision to draft and stash Ajinca overseas before bringing him to the US. When he does make his way to Dallas, he will have a role given his skills and the system this Mavericks team runs.

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Keenan Womack

KEENAN WOMACK

Keenan Womack is a sportswriter native to Dallas, Texas, who has spent the last 12 years in Austin, the home of his alma mater, the University of Texas. Keenan has covered sports for SB Nation, Bleacher Report, Rivals/Orangebloods, a host of his own sites and now, Fan Nation. Focusing on basketball, Keenan was on the beat for the Longhorns hoops team for the last two-and-a-half years before moving on to pursue other opportunities. He is married and lives with his wife close to the Moody Center, so they can continue to catch games together.

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