Maxime Raynaud Scouting Report
Maxime Raynaud is a lottery pick. The over-seven-foot senior has a clear role as a short-roll-passing pick-and-pop five with immense defensive versatility. Here's why NBA teams want him so badly:
Maxime Raynaud (#42, Stanford): Senior
7’1” — Power Forward/Center — Born: Apr 7, 2003 (21 years old)
Introduction
After teaming up with Victor Wembanyama in the early days in France, Raynaud moved to the prestigious Stanford University, where he’s an academic standout. He grew from a walk-on to the team’s most vital player, where he earned Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year in 2024. After the program joined the ACC, Raynaud faced a different style of competition where his strengths were put on display, taking over the team’s number one option role as a fourth-year senior.
Raynaud was a dark horse to win ACC Player of the Year after averaging over twenty points and ten rebounds per game. Growing in his role as an inside-out option and pick-and-pop five, his production matches the archetype many NBA teams try to add to their depth chart. The emphasis of this scouting report is to match his strengths to a feasible starting role in the NBA that makes him a lottery pick. More about that later on in this article.
Physical Profile
At 7-foot-1, Raynaud has a long build with a well-filled frame. His core strength is the unique selling point. The mobility and flexible hips form the base of Raynaud effectively serving as a defender in four, or even five-out-styled schemes. He’s a decent shot-blocker on top of mastering the craft of his footwork, ensuring he can close out effectively.
Raynaud is a decent athlete who impacts the game with his strong last step and fluid movement. On top of keeping his own physically inside the paint, Raynaud has enough lateral quickness to compensate for a lack of a good first step and burst. The positive here is that his ball positioning, where he’s using overhead ball positioning helps him to take away defenders poking the ball away.
Raynaud is listed at 245 pounds, with enough room to bulk up in the next few years. Size becomes vital for NBA front offices to counter more undersized tweeners entering the league. The physical tools are one of the unique selling points of his profile.
Offense
Pick-and-pop
Raynaud’s confidence as a shooter, on top of his excellent screening, makes it feasible he’ll be used as a pick-and-pop shooter. More NBA programs increase their four, or even five-out schemes, making it essential to have a well-screening five who can make shots when open. Raynaud’s leverage to attack the rim gives him enough leverage to keep defenders further away from him, as he actively punishes closeouts that get too close to him.
Considering his role, his efficiency at about 33% from deep is enough to convince NBA decision-makers that he can improve the numbers in the NBA. His screening makes the difference. In the first play below, Raynaud recognizes the drop coverage five and immediately pops to the elbow after setting the ball screen. The habit of bringing the ball to his chest after setting his feet shows good habits. His high-arcing release is nearly unblockable, and by bringing the ball up high, he’s lessening the time needed to get his shot off.
As mentioned, his closeout attacks are his leverage. Raynaud mastered the skill of faking the ball up to change directions and immediately pop to the rim. Despite being taller than seven feet, he has good burs and lateral quickness where he can get downhill effectively, drawing the foul in the third play after the entire defense collapses on him. In the fourth possession below, we see a similar play. Raynaud recognizes his closeout defender closing the angle on the perimeter, whereafter he uses his overhead change of direction to attack the strong side while keeping the possibility of the kick out alive before finding the right angle to dunk home his dribble penetration.
Catch-and-shoot
Raynaud has high-level fundamentals. When he’s shooting off the catch, he’s leveraging the closeout attack well by actively pivoting further away. Combined with him bringing the ball to his chest after the catch, he’s positioning himself well to keep defenders at a distance while making it feasible that he can create a good driving lane when the coverage of his three-point shot gets too good. That’s the base for him to grow into a volume shooter in the NBA. While attempting over five threes per game, the 34.1% on the season is good enough of a return for NBA scouts to support the claim of him improving a team’s offensive rating.
With his assignment dropping in the first play, Raynaud follows his instincts and unwraps the gift of a late rotation. Hereafter, he immediately pulls up from above the break after the catch. In the second possession, Raynaud does well to catch the pass with his right, completely opening up the driving lane on the baseline. That’s the type of space creation NBA scouts value. It’s vital to not take the shot, but always keep a second decision to make in mind while making the most out of his footwork to open up angles to attack the closeout when he needs to.
In the third play, Raynaud shows his willingness to shoot and not settle for a two-pointer when he has a wide-open opportunity to make the three. Despite the miss, that’s a good decision on his part. However, the area of development for Raynaud is to not always return on defense, as he can bet on crashing the offensive glass, especially when all five defenders are positioned within the paint like in this play. That’s an area to monitor for NBA decision-makers when Raynaud enters their building for workouts this summer.
Passing and playmaking
As a passer, Raynaud hasn’t showcased his potential enough this season. At 1.6 assists to 2.4 turnovers, the numbers won’t promise an early good return. However, the context behind the numbers is what matters. Raynaud has an excellent feel for the game and plays with composure, ensuring he’ll execute his reads more often than not. He’s a master at using his size and overhead ball skills to find open teammates. Ball reversals are a sign of quality being played. That combined with his ability to leverage his closeout attacks make Raynaud a promising playmaker from the inside out on an NBA floor.
In the first play below, Raynaud shows a good angle creation after rolling to the rim, converting the interior pass to an immediate touch pass to the corner. He kept the ball high at all times, which is a vital part of completely banking on his size advantage over his defenders. That continues in the third play below. Raynaud attacks the closeout but stumbles on a well-positioned defender. Instead of passing out of the play. Raynaud remains patient and waits until help defense is forced to adjust. With the relocating weakside shooter, Raynaud uses his overhead passing skills for the ball reversal that leads to the midrange jumper.
His level of court vision makes the negative assist-to-turnover ratio negligible. In the last play below, we see a similar execution. He’s using the slick jab step before posting up his opponent, which leads to defense collapse on him. Hereafter, he immediately executes his pass to find the weak side option in the corner. Raynaud’s floor-spacing as a passer is an essential weapon for him to positively impact an NBA team’s offensive rating in the NBA. Therefore, it’s likely his assist numbers will go up at the next level.
Catch-and-drive
Raynaud’s scoring potential improves when considering his plays out of closeouts. He has decent handles, but with his size, it looks too loose for him to fight himself to the rim. His frame is solid, but overall, he lacks the strength to bully himself to some paint touches. On top of that, he’s struggling to plant his last step in a way to ensure his balance before finishes. That leads to Raynaud often forcing his shots while bailing defenders out. That’s a reason for his low assist numbers, as the tunnel vision isn’t helping him. That’s partially on his heavy scoring load on Stanford’s offense, but his tunnel vision is largely to blame.
Regardless, that’s something for NBA coaches to help him improve at the next level. Raynaud can make the most out of a position with his excellent ball control. He’s using his size excellently to protect the ball, mostly putting it over his head, giving him more leverage to draw fouls and get himself to the charity stripe. At over four free-throw attempts per game, he’s converting these at about 78%. That’s a good number, ensuring he can play game-closing minutes as a five, increasing the value of his draft profile.
In the first play below, Raynaud leverages his size after the baseline out-of-bounds play, effectively attacking the rim but struggling to find balance before his finish. Despite the extra bump, he gets up the hook finish, which is one of his go-to moves. In the second play, Raynaud bails the defense out after completely losing his assignment with the possibility to cleanly attack the basket. He has to work on settling for threes less often. On top of that, Raynaud has to play with more toughness, as in the third play below, he could easily draw the foul with the defender closing out so heavily on his downhill drive. Better decision-making when he’s collapsing defenses is an essential part of growing into a better role at the next level.
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