Sekou Doumbouya ('19)

[clyde21]

The Wizards should totally draft Sekou if they can't trade down

Very intruiging, but I cant see how you take him over Garland or Bol...or even Hunter & Clarke

if Bol is gone then one of the Garland, Sekou or KPJ would be good for the Wiz.

other than #1 overall, Wizards are in kind of a sweet spot...a lot of good value there potentially.

[Illmatic12]

That's how I feel about Brandon Clarke . Can't take an undersized non-shooting PF that high either.. I'm just not sure where you play him or how many minutes he can play in a postseason series with his lack of floor-spacing. Middling upside rotation player isn't what I'd want that high in the draft

Not saying they are going to be similar, but that statement could be about Draymond Green and we know how valuable he is. I could see Clarke following Millsap's footsteps in terms of shooting as he can already knock down the occasional jump shot. And Clarke clearly worked successfully on his free-throw shooting, so that is an encouraging sign. That said, of course thinking about taking him this early in the draft creates a somewhat uneasy feeling – I get that.

Oh cmon now . Draymond had an overall floor game and shot 39% from three his senior year. Clarke doesn't dribble and literally doesn't attempt shots outside of the paint. I like his motor and IQ, but at the core he's mostly just a run-jump athlete who could be a great 25mpg role player.

Clarke is a "Whole greater than the sum of parts" sorta player. As in, his ability to switch and guard 2-5, rebound, block shots, play with pace and get easy buckets allows your other players to mask deficiencies.

He steps in to the league and does everything at a high level.
Day 1 he is Kenneth Faried with better defense. So thats a per36 of 16 & 10 on a TS of 58% and good defense... And thats his Floor

Think about this for a second. Faried and Millsap averaged more rebounds against inferior competition at Morehead state and LA Tech.
But Clarke averaged more than DOUBLE the assist, double the blocks, with less turnovers and fouls. He did so while being a far more efficient scorer and shooting better from the FT line.

Seriously... take Paul Millsap and give him Farieds athleticism, and then you have Clarke. Do you comprehend how valuable that player is? A better version of Aaron Gordon.
Thats a top 3 PF that can guard 4 positions. Sooo... Draymond.
As a Wiz fan, you and I are both well aware of how much Millsap killed us for 3-4 years

Would you pick a 22 y/o Millsap with the 6-8th pick in the draft? I sure as hell would.

Paul Millsap was the 47th pick in the draft . The chances of him becoming as good as he did were extremely slim. He improved his skill level immensely and was a low post monster in Utah, then developed a 3pt and ballhandling ability and became a versatile small ball 4.

Millsap's development is a complete outlier . I wouldn't draft Brandon Clarke with a 6th-8th pick expecting him to become Paul Millsap, when he's shown very few hints of self-creation ability or a perimeter game. It just doesn't add up for me. I absolutely take Clarke in the 10-15 range but not touching him in the top 8

[Stillwater]

wouldnt touch him with loterry pick, picking him 6th is just wasting a tank year.

Maybe, but the ceiling is higher than most that will be there at 6 even though the floor is very low in comparison to 20 players that would be available there.
Somebody will gamble on him if they want a shot at more long term than a rotation player at some point in the lottery probably

Yeah I think picks 4-8 or so might be different than most are expecting. Everyone seems pretty comfortable w the first 3.


It really will come down to higher ceilings at this point. After the top 3 it’s not going to be the easier safe picks like Coby white or hunter. I think teams have to look to the Bolbol, Doumbouya, KZ okpala, high ceiling types

I mean it's a crap shoot really, and depends a lot on who is available and how they are projected to fit into a system for teams already well into a rebuild...but for teams just starting one gambling on high upside seems more likely.

[Coeur]

It is def way easier to say these guys should fit 10-15 or shouldn’t go top 6 or 8 or whatever.


Problem is that you do have to take someone 4-10


So I think I do that too and you see them where historically they’d fit in most drafts. But this isn’t most drafts. It’s this one.


I’m really starting to but Into this idea that there are 20 different guys that could go anywhere from 6-26

[Capn'O]

Nas or Sekou - who you got?

[clyde21]

Nas or Sekou - who you got?

Sekou by a strong margin

[clyde21]

it's pretty crazy how young Sekou just is...even younger than JJJ by the time he was drafted last year.

[The-Power]

Oh cmon now . Draymond had an overall floor game and shot 39% from three his senior year.

I'm talking about NBA Draymond as well, who can't hit jumpers reliably whatsoever.

Clarke doesn't dribble and literally doesn't attempt shots outside of the paint.

Both of statements are demonstratively incorrect, sorry.

1. https://hoop-math.com/Gonzaga2019.php
See also: https://www.thestepien.com/2019/01/18/draft-notes-easy-case-brandon-clarke/
--> there is also a video showing him shooting ‘real’ jumpers as well

2. Many examples, but see for instance the following video (starting from 1:41). I am not saying he is Draymond out there but he does create some with dribble moves when it comes to his own scoring.

Watch on YouTube

[Jamaaliver]

Nas or Sekou - who you got?

I (still) think Nas has the higher upside, but I'd probably lean towards Sekou as a do-it-all swiss army knife, 2-way player.

His ability to potentially defend on the perimeter and in the post, defend SGs and Centers is really enticing.


But both could bust in the NBA really easily.

[clyde21]

Read on Twitter

[clyde21]

this is a beautiful one handed feed from Sekou

[Kalela]

Any new highlights or break down of this guy's game? For his age, size and ability to handle the ball he looks an interesting player that can develop into something like Siakam.

[Illmatic12]

Any new highlights or break down of this guy's game? For his age, size and ability to handle the ball he looks an interesting player that can develop into something like Siakam.

Quite honestly Doumbouya is in my top 5 favorite prospects in this draft. I've done a fair amount of research into him and he fits everything teams are looking for today, from a physical/skills standpoint (6'10 PF with the agility of a wing player, great defensive instincts and also shoots threes), upside (just turned 18yo in Dec), and also character & work ethic which has been reported as a major plus for him. Once he comes to the US for pre-draft workouts, Sekou is going to shoot up draft boards and I don't believe he will fall out of the top 8.


This link has a fairly accurate breakdown (except for the "Siakam/Batum" comp they made. Siakam is a good comp but Batum makes no sense lol)

https://draftvalue.com/2019/05/03/sekou-doumbouya-draft-profile/


Also here is Sam Vecenie's mock draft profile:

9. Atlanta Hawks (from DAL) — Sekou Doumbouya

6-9 forward, 18 years old, Limoges (France)

Out of the international class, the multi-dimensional 6-foot-9 18-year-old originally from Guinea certainly looks to hold the most long-term value. Doumbouya had a tough start to the season, struggling to adjust to high-level pro basketball in France in the first three months of his season. He posted an extremely poor 0.57 assist to turnover ratio, while hitting just 25 percent in limited attempts from 3. Defensively, he was fouling over six times per 40 minutes. Basically, he looked like a 17-year-old playing professional basketball for the first time. But then, in a trio of games around Christmas, it looked like the French international had turned a corner, scoring 12 points in each and looking much more comfortable. Unfortunately, Doumbouya suffered a thumb injury in a league game against Boulazac and required surgery to repair a ligament and missed just over a month of action. And after a few games of action to get himself back into game shape, Doumbouya has been much better over the last month and a half. In his last eight games, Doumbouya has seen his points per minute increase, his 3-point shooting volume and efficiency has increased, and generally he just looks much more comfortable with the speed of the game.

Overall, I’m encouraged that Doumbouya has figured things out quickly, but still question how ready for the NBA he is simply due to his inexperience at high levels to this stage. There’s a real chance that he might need an extra year of seasoning, or else the team that picks him may be wasting one or two valuable seasons of his entry-level contract. Much like someone like Al-Farouq Aminu, the team that gets the best value out of Doumbouya may not necessarily be the team that selects him unless they can delay his process for coming over. But NBA teams generally are relatively high on Doumbouya and consider him a likely lottery pick. Atlanta, possessing two likely lottery picks and five picks overall, are well-positioned to take a shot on him figuring things out.

[King Ken]

I still think Sekou is what I hoped AF Aminu was as a prospect.

[Coeur]

I still think Sekou is what I hoped AF Aminu was as a prospect.

Man was I sure James Johnson, Teague, Aminu, and ish Smith was going to win it. They had some other solid players too.

[Illmatic12]

I still think Sekou is what I hoped AF Aminu was as a prospect.

Man was I sure James Johnson, Teague, Aminu, and ish Smith was going to win it. They had some other solid players too.

Having heard from someone who went to Wake Forest during that time, apparently that team all hated each other and had terrible locker room chemistry , haha. Like it was common knowledge that they didn't even speak to each off the court, and were only focused individually on getting to the NBA and that's it.

Sadly Skip Prosser, the coach who recruited that class, passed away suddenly in 07 and you wonder if that had an effect on the team dynamic.

Re: Sekou vs Aminu, I think Doumbouya at 18 is further ahead than Aminu was for sure. AFs shot and whole perimeter game was completely broken, Sekou shoots a real easy ball and even comes off screens to shoot, he won't take long to adjust as an NBA stretch 4. And imo he has much higher playmaking IQ and court vision , Doumbouya came up in a French basketball academy where guys like Batum were developed . For me having watched a lot of his footage and full Limoges CSP matches, you can see he just knows how to play , better than most American kids that age

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

His only weakness is finishing touch at the basket , which is okay for an 18yo. If he gets that down you potentially have a better shooting Siakam.

[clyde21]

i've been fully on board with Sekou as a top 5 prospect, he's been #4 for me now after Zion, Bol and RJ for a while.

Just when you consider everything, the archetype, athleticism, size, shooting, and potential...it's hard not to look at him that high. Especially if he continues to develop as a possible playmaker or point forward in the future.

[Kalela]

He looks smaller than his 6'10" listed height. He reminds me a bit of Jerami Grant.

[Stillwater]

He looks smaller than his 6'10" listed height. He reminds me a bit of Jerami Grant.

Even if you're right, with ridiculous athletic ability and length no one will care nor should they.

[King Ken]

The issue with the Grant or Siakam comparisions is those guys have 5 inches on him with their wingspan