NBA Draft: 4 More International Big Men for No. 51 Pick
Alpha Kaba (Pau-Orthez) PF/C
Alpha Kaba is seemingly built to play basketball. He is 6-foot-9, 230 pounds with a 7-foot-5 wingspan and the athleticism to complete the 747. He runs the court like a deer and can explode off it. He even has decent shooting range.
For those who have seen a bit of Giannis Antetokoumpo, the differences are scarce.
But he is still far from NBA-ready. He needs to adapt to the rigors of what NBA minutes will entail and he makes a lot of mistakes on the court still. Given he is not yet 20 years old, this should be expected really.
Kaba has not yet figured out how to use his length and athleticism to be an elite defender, whereas Antetokoumpo did that rather quickly. He is also somewhat unaware of the finer fundamentals that better-taught centers have.
He is going to take a lot of work to really figure out the game of basketball, but his start has been promising. While his shot may take a while to wind up, it is fluid and sound. He saw just about 34 minutes the entire season last year in the French league and is not yet ready for the NBA, but he could end up coming and getting seasoned in the D-League.
Already Kaba’s physical tools are too savory for him to not at least receive a good look from a number of GMs looking to secure talent in the early second round.
He is projected to go No. 39 overall on NBADraft.net. It is still a bit early to have much of a read really on where he goes, however.