Bassala Bagayoko Scouting Report
After a recovery period of over two years, Bassala Bagayoko is back in shape. The still 18-year-old has serious NBA star potential, but will he ever hit his 100 %ILE outcome? Here's all you must know:
Bassala Bagayoko (#76, Bilbao Basket): 2006, 6'10"
Center — Born: Sep 10, 2006 (18 years old)
Introduction
5 November 2022. A day I won’t forget easily. Bassala Bagayoko tore his ACL and meniscus in an ACB game against Manresa. It was a doomsday scenario as Bagayoko was one of the most talented prospects in the world at that time. When I saw him for the first time, I believed he was the number one overall pick for the 2025 NBA Draft. But now reality hit, as he returned from a two-plus-year recovery period.
It will take a while before he’ll return to his old self. Regardless, Bagayoko is still a first-round caliber player in terms of long-term potential. We rarely see a 100th-percentile hit in a prospect’s development. Therefore, the emphasis of this scouting report is a feasible role Bagayoko can grow into, with untapped potential that NBA franchises can tap into in the long run.
To get back in shape, Bagayoko was loaned out to fourth-tier division squad Bizkaia Zornotza. Hereafter, he returned to Bilbao to play in the final stages of the ACB season after his team kept itself away from relegation dangers.
Physical Profile
At 6-foot-10, Bagayoko is a true five with an improving body. He’s bulking up gradually and is a tremendous athlete. NBA scouts must remember he’s still an 18-year-old coming off a long-term injury. It’s all about the long term, and Bagayoko’s body is still changing. When players grow, their frames are too late to catch up. That must be remembered when evaluating his profile.
Bagayoko is explosive and has quick and light feet. He’s a vertical athlete with long strides and has a long wingspan. There’s no official measurement available, but it should be around 7-foot-6. With improving footwork, Bagayoko has the top-tier physical tools NBA scouts look for.
Defense
Pick-and-roll
Bagayoko is a great decision-maker in the pick-and-roll. His light and quick feet allow him to actively hard-hedge ball screens or even blitz ball handlers. He fits into a role to tire an opposing starting guard off the bench with his activity. He has long arms and active hands and hunts players off their footwork, which forms the base of how Spanish teams like to develop teams. Naturally, at a young age, especially coming off an injury, he lacks consistency, which is not the focus here.
The first play led to a personal foul, but NBA scouts will be intrigued by the process. A strong last step, and he slid his feet perfectly. However, reacting too much to the jab steps, Bagayoko gave up the driving angle before he committed too much physicality from behind. At close to two personal fouls in fourteen minutes, the numbers show he’s still learning to control his aggressiveness.
Bagayoko actively tags opponents. In the second play, he rotates well and uses the tag to immediately hunt the ball handler to poke away the ball for the transition move. His decision-making and quick feet led to the steal. These are the flashes NBA scouts look for. In the third play below, he shows great footwork against the jab steps. However, Bagayoko was so dialed in on the feet that he didn’t contest the pull-up jumper.
On top of that, the box out shows a good habit, but long threes lead to long rebounds. Therefore, NBA coaches must help him with his rebounding, specifically by practicing where misses can potentially land. That’ll round out his strong perimeter defense when playing the ball screens, as NBA teams focus on limiting second-chance opportunities, and box-outs are the key indicator for that.
Closing out to the perimeter
Bagayoko plays with confidence when closing out to the perimeter. He’s quick, and he knows it. On top of that, the footwork is beyond his years and is the main reason why ACB teams felt comfortable giving him a good role off the bench despite his young age. His closeouts will translate to the NBA. NBA scouts know they have great value in his footwork, especially if they can help him improve his decision-making.
In the first play, Bagayoko follows the play late but well. The closeout had him taking away the baseline, which is the first thing to do when taking away advantages. The intriguing part is the speed compensating for late rotations that will change to a defensive rating booster if his rotations get better than they already are now. Despite playing among much older players, Bagayoko is an active communicator. The second play shows an example, as Bagayoko denied the switch and kept his opponent with the corner assignment. Hereafter, he chased the slower elbow shooter, closing out hard with the ball not touching the rim.
His understanding of rotations shows in the third play. He’s on the weak side and anticipated the touch pass to the elbow. That led to a late closeout, which Bagayoko could afford as the shooter was far away from the three-point line. It’s clear Bagayoko lived in the film room during rehab, and his improvement in his feel for the game shows how dedicated he is to getting better. Reliable closeouts from fives are big value boosters to a draft profile.
Defending away from the ball and against cutters
His feel for the game makes it easier for Bagayoko to improve as an off-ball defender facing cutters. His reads are consistent, but the lack of playing time leads to inconsistent execution. The first play summarizes everything. He’s communicating, making the right read in the tag and rotations to follow up. However, he forced his read instead of trusting the rotations from teammates.
Despite giving away two points, it’s a learning experience. His read to anticipate the corner was the right one, but the ball handler's deception with the pass fake shows the levels of plays being run. That makes playing in the ACB so tough, as the same level of various offensive schemes and sets are barely found elsewhere, especially not in college basketball.
In the second play, the lack of strength made the difference. He made the right rotation but lacked the length and size to fully match up with the play-finishing five underneath the basket. The first jump shows a habit he must improve in the next few years. The third possession shows good awareness in space, with Bagayoko being a tad too late to respond to the entry pass. Hereafter, he used his speed to compensate.
Missing the box-out shows his lack of speed in processing the game. But not as important now, considering the lack of playing minutes in the most essential years of his development. NBA scouts must keep his injury in mind when contextualizing at all times.
Post-ups
During ACB play, opponents often hunted Bagayoko by spamming post-entry passes for stronger and older fives to consider him a mismatch. However, for NBA scouts, it’s a given that Bagayoko needs to get stronger. But that didn’t take anything away from his toughness, patience, and decision-making in the post. The defensive potential keeps giving, and is a differentiator among his peers.
In the first play, Bagayoko shows the rookie mistake of being deceived by the left pivot and faking over the right shoulder. This helped the post scorer seal off via the left, leaving Bagayoko in the dust. The lack of physicality gave the opponents the courage to consider him a mismatch. However, that doesn’t take anything away from how tough Bagayoko is. In the second play, he’s refusing to grant a good post-entry positioning by bothering the post player, with help from the defender at the top of the key. Despite the strength disadvantage, Bagayoko put his arm around the scorer’s back and kept pushing away the shoulder bump into his chest. It eventually led to an unbalanced finish.
In the third play, Bagayoko has shown patience against the double jap before the finish over the left shoulder. His length is good for compensating for the strength he doesn’t have yet. The area of development is not allowing opponents to rebound over his back and standing his ground stronger in box outs after misses. Bagayoko’s great footwork allowed him to take over assignments as well. The fourth possession shows an example. He pivots out strongly and absorbs the first bumps perfectly. He forced the post scorer to the strong side, considering the dropoff pass. That’s where Bagayoko recognized the angle for the steal. At 0.6 steals per game under fourteen minutes, the numbers show good returns.
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Offense
Passing, ball-moving, and playmaking
Bagayoko matured his game fast. He has only nine turnovers in 258 minutes this season, showing good care of the ball. That’ll help him to gain trust with more touches, where he can show his ball-moving and short-roll playmaking. Despite a small sample size of nine assists, the flashes exceed expectations and make it feasible that Bagayoko can grow into a good passer and playmaker in the NBA. His patience is the main indicator.
It’s a joy to behold how mature and composed he is. He’s a smart player with good decision-making, showing consistency in his will to be unselfish and wanting to make the right play. The first play shows exactly why. He’s cutting actively and smartly and collects the post-entry pass with a strong pivot on his last step. He recognized help defense from the weak side and wanted to hit the corner shooter. But the passing angles were closed, and he kept his patience before finding the dropoff pass to the cutter through the middle. This kind of patience is rare among eighteen-year-olds.
He’s also using eye manipulation actively. In the second possession, Bagayoko grabs the offensive board and positions the ball away from his vision, selling the defense the kickout pass before finding the cutter angle. Tight passing angles do not take anything away from Bagayoko’s will to find the right pocket. However, NBA teams will help him to be faster with his execution. The third play shows an example. The corner option should have been recognized much faster.
His true passing potential is shown in the last play. He shows a great active roll to the cup with the solid ball screen as a base. He manipulated with his eyes again, selling the interior defense the kickout pass before using the side to find the backdoor cutter. This time of short-roll playmaking is a scarce but highly wanted commodity in the NBA.
Offensive rebounding and putbacks
Bagayoko shows a lack of touch around the rim, but that’s irrelevant when considering the great awareness and timing for misses. That’s remarkable, as he lacks these instincts on the defensive side of the ball. Regardless, there’s room for Bagayoko to collect garbage points as a hard-nosed rebounder and play-finisher, cashing in on second-chance opportunities. At close to two offensive boards per game, he’s a constant threat on the offensive glass.
But there are issues. Serious ones. Bagayoko doesn’t show composure at the rim, and with a lack of touch, that’s leaving points on the table. The first play shows an example of him missing the bunny. Regardless, context matters. The lack of minutes plays a role, and Bagayoko doesn’t want to apply too much pressure on his knees anymore. He’s practicing finishing plays by keeping the ball high, similar to how the Gasol brothers found success in the NBA. But he needs to be consistent and turn that into a habit.
The second play shows another bunny missing with him collecting the offensive board on the miss by leaping from behind. The third play has a similar outing, but that’s where Bagayoko kept collecting his misses in traffic before showing his fluidity and failing to duck in the paint before rising fluidly. He’s a leaper first and doesn’t show the same touch when he’s missing boards. This confirms it’s a touch-related issue that will improve with work and effort.
Screening and play-finishing via the pick-and-roll
Bagayoko’s role in the NBA will primarily be a screen-and-dive and screen-and-pop five because of his great athleticism. He’ll be a vertical lob threat, prioritizing finishes off high-entry passes and lobs. He’s an excellent screener, considering his age. He's using hard screens where he’s focusing on separation before using push-offs and tags to elevate himself for hard cuts and rolls to the rim. That’s the base and a comfortable position for ball handlers, as they can rely on good ball screens. He’s also mixing it with handoffs on top of classic pick-and-roll plays.
The first play shows an example with Bagayoko popping to the rim after the good screen, followed by his handoff above the break. We see a similar execution in the second play, using the pushoff to immediately punish the defense for leaving his rolling lane wide open. Athletic finishes are his M.O., and the best part is that it’ll only get better when he’s fully grown into his body. Bagayoko is a smart roll man out of screens as he’s focusing on staying in the ball handler’s passing angle. The third play shows an example.
The area where Bagayoko can set himself apart is using his flexible hips to create scoring angles in post-entry passes. The last play shows him rising fluidly but bringing the ball down before going back up again. If he keeps the ball high and uses his hips in the same way, he can turn into a feared interior scorer who forces coaches to utilize him in that way more often.
NBA Draft Projection
Based on the strengths and areas of development mentioned in this scouting report, I project Bassala Bagayoko to be a first-round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. I’m putting all my eggs in one basket in this evaluation. Granted, when I first saw him play three years ago, I was immediately sold on him entering the league as an 18-year-old. Things didn’t work out well with the injury, but regardless, I’m all in on his long-term potential as a starting NBA center.
Teams don’t mind developing talent. He’s still barely scratching the surface of his potential, with his mature defense and feel for the game being a base to play NBA minutes as a switchable, athletic lob threat.
The other side of the coin is having zero knowledge or intel about his medical status. That’s a question mark NBA teams might have, as Bagayoko can opt to focus on the 2026 NBA Draft as well. His presence at the Adidas Eurocamp is a good opportunity for NBA scouts and front-office personnel to have a first view and catch up on lost seasons. If he returns to Bilbao, Bagayoko will be a first-rounder in next year’s draft.