Alexandros Samodurov Scouting Report

Having a stretch five that is a good passer and makes good decisions as a P&R defender will intrigue NBA teams. What else to know? Find out more below.

Photo via FIBA Basketball

At 18 years old, Alexandros Samodurov is one of Greece’s most talented young players. He fits the bill with the NBA’s desire for a five that stretches the floor and fulfills ball-moving and passing duties. However, there are still some areas of development before he should consider declaring for the NBA Draft.

Greece is one of the best when it comes to developing talent. The reason why they seldom end up in the NBA is that they are taught to play in the right way as they are prepared to fulfill a certain role in Europe, instead of getting enough individual freedom to explore their boundaries.

For most Greeks, playing for Panathinaikos is an ultimate goal, which Samodurov accomplished despite his young age. While playing for one of the best teams in Europe, Samodurov is on a two-way contract with Panerythraikos of the Greek Second Division, which opens the door for potentially enough playing minutes to develop.

Physical Profile

At 6’11”, Samodurov has a slim frame. With his 200 pounds, it’s clear that he has to get stronger to play long minutes at the next level. What immediately stood out was his tremendous foot speed and overall quickness. At his size, that’s a potential game-changer for him in the long run.

Samodurov has fluid hips and despite his lanky build, he makes up for the lack of strength with his quickness. However, to be able to play long minutes at the next level, getting stronger is a must.

There isn’t an official wingspan measurement, but the eye test confirms that he has slightly longer arms than average which compensates for the lack of vertical explosiveness.

Offense

At the NBA level, Samodurov will allow teams to play five out. One of the most translatable skills is his ability to attack closeouts. Samodurov can beat his man off the catch with a good first step. Despite a shaky handle, he’s effective at getting to the rim.

In the play below, the area of development is Samodurov staying too passive as he waits for the ball for too long at the top of the key. However, his cut to the corner forces the defense to switch, leaving him wide open to attack the late closeout.

While playing 38 minutes so far in five games, Samodurov is mostly used as a screener and spot-up shooter. His duties mostly consist of utilizing the weak side and in various screening actions. In his early NBA career, I expect his shooting to be one of his main duties.

In the play below, him catching the ball with his right, and shooting while sliding to the left is what caught my attention. The shot needs work as he’s losing too much time before the release, which is high enough. The limited sample size doesn’t warrant enough comfort, therefore this aspect needs to be re-evaluated later on in the season.

As an off-ball screener, Samodurov does what’s expected to get himself open. However, he has shown one consistent thing during his minutes with the first teams, and that’s the level of fear of making mistakes. While he’s assertive at the youth level, he’s playing completely in his role at the pros.

While that’s a common thing in European basketball, there are still a few areas that need to improve during the season:

• Late execution of his reads

• Being more aggressive

The play below summarizes the above-mentioned His screen completely opens up the elbow for his three-point shot, and his moving towards where he needed to be instead of waiting for the ball was another positive.

The thing that’ll get in his way at the next level is the lack of trust in his decision-making. Going for the offensive rebound wasn’t the best decision in this case, and it opened up the paint for his opponents in semi-transition.

On the contrary, we see a whole different player at the youth level. With his skillset in the post, he’s able to spread the floor out and find shooters.

In the play below, Samodurov showcases his touch at the rim, but a kick-out pass to the open shooters will likely be asked of him at the NBA level. And being able to post up is a must-have to

To add more context, it’s not realistic to expect an 18-year-old to play a big role on a win-now team at the highest level. Therefore, evaluating the games that Samodurov plays among his peers is the better way to process the situation.

With a limited amount of ball touches at the highest level, Samodurov has to show he’s able to make quick decisions. When it comes to his early NBA role, it’s expected that he’ll mostly play as a pick-and-pop threat who’ll also attack closeouts and make plays as a face-up scorer.

With a good burst at 6’11”, Samodurov allows teams to play five out on a shooting-heavy scheme. It’s a basic read and execution, but we see an example of the above-mentioned in the play below.

When it comes to the fundamentals, Samodurov shows he has the patience and court vision to find cutters when he’s being used as a playmaking hub in the post. He switches from keeping the ball high to lowering the ball to his waist to sell the face-up scoring action to the defense.

We don’t see any advanced plays from him yet so far in his career. But considering his role, that’s not something that’ll be asked of him early on in his NBA career. The composure combined with the ability to execute his reads does show there is untapped potential in his profile when it comes to his passing game.

The area where Samodurov separates himself from his peers is his ability to make live-dribble passes. The handles aren’t optimal in general, but impressive considering his size. Despite his young age, he’s already fluid in his movement in both on and off-ball situations.

In the play below, Samodurov forces the switch to the guard and immediately goes to work after receiving the pass near the elbow. His good first step and timely drive led to him finding the cutter with the impressive bounce pass. The area of development for him is to be able to chase the potential offensive rebound and putback, but developing that awareness is something to monitor in the long run.

Defense

The first and foremost thing that’ll keep Samodurov on an NBA floor is his pick-and-roll defense. With his fluidity and long arms, he’s an advantage to be able to guard against the P&R ball-handlers in various defensive schemes.

His ball skills and quickness led to him being mostly used as a four, rather than a traditional rolling five you’ll see more often in Europe, therefore the sample size is limited, but it doesn’t take anything away from his upcoming role once he reaches the NBA level.

In the play below, we see Samodurov guard the P&R in a slow half-court setting. He’s composed at all times and sticks to his assignment. The intriguing part is that he’s fluid no matter how far he’s playing from the basket. With the shot clock winding down, going under to contest the shot was the right decision.

When opponents switch to Samodurov, we see he doesn’t shy away from the challenge of taking on scorers in isolation. What stood out was the hesitation to reach or not, which led to slower lateral quickness, but despite the successful challenge at the rim, facing more athletic guards on American soil will be something he could struggle with. That’s an area NBA decision-makers have to focus on when evaluating his profile.

A big plus in Samodurov’s profile is that he’s already solid at recognizing rotations. This is a must-have, but to succeed at a young age at the highest level in Europe, it’s something you don’t see often. When evaluating his film, the consistency on that end stood out.

The play below is a good summary of where he currently stands. Impressive awareness to foresee the pass to the spot-up shooter near the elbow and relocate and immediately rotate again to the dribble-driver. The opponent completely collapsed the defense and left the weak side open, nevertheless, the closeout from Samodurov was quick.

In set defenses, defending closeouts is what Samodurov thrives on. His defensive awareness is something that’ll translate at the next level. After his team crowds the paint, Samodurov already steps out of the paint to avoid a wide-open elbow three.

With the opponent recognizing the mismatch, Samodurov does well to maintain his balance and not reach for the ball. His long wingspan allows him to contest midrange shots with ease, especially since his slim frame doesn’t make it easy to absorb contact against older and stronger players. At the NBA level, teams will benefit heavily from his defense in space, especially when he gets stronger to handle contact much better.

When it comes to his transition defense, Samodurov is solid at using his quickness to keep opponents in front of him. While evaluating his film, he looked more confident against his peers than against the pros, as the environment of the first team is something he’s still getting used to.

The play below is an example of how well he’s already guarding in transition, even with the guards switching sides. His fluid hips allow him to maintain his balance at all times, and the defensive footwork is at a good level considering his age.

NBA Draft Projection
As a 19-year-old on draft night, Samodurov hasn’t shown enough of his skillset to declare for the draft already. With a limited role at Panathinaikos and the second division of Greece not being the optimal level of competition, Samodurov would make a wise decision to transfer to college basketball for the 2024-25 season.

His tremendous foot speed combined with his mobility make him an exciting prospect for NBA decision-makers to monitor. Passing instincts are something that needs more development, but the untapped potential is present.

In today’s NBA you have to be able to switch to other positions on defense to play the most minutes and, thus have the most value. With Samodurov the potential is there with a small sample size of evidence that he can hold his own against European guards. However, against better athletes it’s still a question mark for him, this is another argument for him to transfer to college basketball next season. In the long run, there’s the making of a plus-defender.

He is still raw, but in terms of long-term potential, Samodurov has the physical tools and fundamentals to be able to play in the NBA. If he plays more minutes this season and if he shows he can play a similar game against better athletes, Samodurov is a first-round caliber prospect for the 2025 NBA Draft.