2018 NBA Draft: International prospect scouting reports

Issuf Sanon SG Ukraine (Petrol Olimpija Slovenian League)

Stats: 6.6 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.1 TOV, 44 FG%, 30.3 3P%, 50 FT% (Slovenian League) 

Measurables: Height: 6’4″; Weight: 190 pounds; Wingspan: (NA) 

Strengths:

Shooting potential 

At Sanon’s young age of 18 years old he has flashed the ability to become a quality shooter. Currently he is just a high-volume, streaky shooter, but those hot shooting nights show promise for Sanon. He flashes it both off the catch and shooting off the dribble. First let’s examine how much better his shot off the catch looks compared to last summer.

Sanon participated in the U18 European Championships last summer. Here’s a look at a catch-and-shoot he attempted against Spain. It’s not ugly, but it is not pretty either. He steps into his shot and it takes him a second too load up when he goes to flick his wrist at the top on the end of his release.

Here’s Sanon after the summer playing for Petrol Olimpija. I know this shot is from a different angle, but the angle has no effect on how much smoother he clearly was shooting the ball off the catch, transforming his catch-and-shoot jumper into a much more projectable and quicker release.

Here is Sanon against Spain working off an off-ball screen and knocking down a pull-up mid-range jump shot going to his left. The motion into the pull-up is not great, but he’s probably mastering it just like his catch-and-shoot form.

Playmaking flashes 

This was something Sanon did a ton of U18. With a very high usage role, Sanon was able to show off some possible passing vision. He made some very simple reads like drive-and-kicks, but also made a few advanced reads, especially when driving along the baseline.

Here’s Sanon driving the baseline against Spain, where he is working off a ball screen. He drives along the baseline and fires a one-handed pass to the screener, who faded to the top of the key for an open 3.

Sanon is driving baseline again here against Turkey. He makes a great one-handed dump-off to his cutting big man for an easy dunk. It’s nice seeing Sanon show this playmaking ability playing off ball and attacking a closeout rather than in such a high usage ball-handling role.

On-ball defense 

Sanon is aggressive on the defensive end of the floor. In this game with Olimpija, he is matched up with former Tennessee point guard Kevin Punter. Punter averaged 22 points per game in his last season with the Volunteers. Sanon was occasionally matched up with the former collegiate star and gave him fits with his aggressive defense.

This aggressive on-ball defense is part of the reason why Sanon averaged 1.3 steals in only 20.5 minutes per game in the Slovenian League.  Look at Sanon pick up Punter at three-quarters court and continuously apply ball pressure until Punter passes.

Weaknesses 

Frame 

At 6’4″, Sanon currently weighs in at 190 pounds. Yhis isn’t horrible, but I’d like to see him get stronger. Similarly to Musa, Sannon does not have the strength to finish through contact and settles for floaters in the lane. It looks like he’s already made some strides physically with Olimpija, so that is a good sign.

Ball-handling 

Sanon already tries to get flashy with a few dribble moves, but he needs to tighten his handle. He did not handle pressure well at all in FIBA. He had a tendency to get sped up trying to run out in transition and this sometimes resulted in turning the ball over.

Here he is against Turkey in transition. While trying to push the pace, Sanon is relatively loose with his dribble, bringing the ball all the way up to his shoulder at one point. As a Turkish defender bombards in to try and swipe the ball away, Sanon turns it over.

Overall: 

Sanon was an extremely impressive prospect to watch. He has a lot of raw scoring talent and maybe one day can provide an NBA team with a scoring punch off the bench. Even with his passing ability, he projects as a combo guard more likely to play the 2 and maybe the 1, but not as a lead ball-handler.

Next: Full two-round 2018 NBA Mock Draft

Defensively, I love his aggression on the ball, but he plays with his same aggression off the ball and that often will lead to mental lapses trying to chase steals or blocks. Sanon is another stash guy and at only 18 years, he still has plenty of time to develop overseas to try and break his way into the NBA.