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.
Why Subscribe to Ersin’s NBA Draft Newsletter?
I have set some ambitious goals for the 2025 NBA Draft Cycle:
My aim is to deliver over 125 detailed scouting reports, ensuring you are fully prepared for draft night.
But there's more to offer. I'll provide continuous coverage of college basketball, focusing on promising international and JUCO prospects. This means you'll be ahead of the curve when a lesser-known player starts to shine in Division 1 or even makes it to the NBA.
Here’s what you’ll receive:
In-depth scouting reports, each over 3,000 words, sent directly to your inbox
Updated Big Boards and Mock Drafts
Exclusive insights into players from smaller conferences and less-known levels of college basketball
And much more!
Join this journey by subscribing for only $5 a month, or opt for the annual plan at $50, which gives you two months free.
Defense
Pick-and-roll
For Raynaud, he must be continuing to improve his defense in the pick-and-roll. He’s not relying on drop coverage much as Raynaud actively seeks to over-screen. That makes it a better option for NBA coaches as he can hedge plays out of ball screens or even blitz ball handlers. The lack of true speed is a worry, but that shouldn't lead to a negative impact on the NBA. However, the challenging part is his gambling to influence the passing lane when dropping his coverage. That puts pressure on a team’s defensive rating, as Stanford often gave up lob passes that led to open dunks. Therefore, gambling less on his plus size, helping to deter passes inside the paint is an area to work on for the French seven-footer.
In the first play below, Raynaud actively switches while chasing the opposing ball handler off the line. He’s sliding his feet well, ensuring his balance while he’s doing decent in not biting on pump-fakes and jab steps. His excellent feel of how to close driving lanes forced the pull-up three after one dribble by the ball handler. However, in the second possession below, Raynaud starts well by maintaining his positioning while not dropping too far back in the paint. He picks up the ball handler in the mid-post area, whereafter his footwork again speaks volumes in closing a good finishing angle against the ball handler.
The area of worry and a red flag in his profile occurs in the third play below. He’s lured outside of the paint by the dribble penetration. Raynaud immediately recognizes he’s in trouble with the roll man diving hard to the rim, leaving him no other option but to try to deflect the lob pass in the air. That continues in the fourth play below. Raynaud is again caught too far away from the paint, where he has no option but to switch and gamble on deflecting the lob pass. He has to be more comfortable keeping his positioning in the paint while reminding he’s the de facto rim protector on his team.
Cuts
When defending off the ball, Raynaud’s main task is to avoid ball handlers getting the easy option of dropping them off to the play-finisher inside the paint. The positive is that Raynaud does well to not ball-watch and use tags to keep control of his assignment. However, he’s not consistent in stopping himself from stepping out too early to rotate against dribble penetration. Raynaud has the bad habit of reacting too much to dribble penetration, which completely opens play-finishers with no sufficient size on his roster to rely on rotating teammates to clean up his assignment at the rim.
In the first play below, Raynaud shows incredible hip fluidity with his quick turnaround after the dropoff pass underneath the basket. That helped him to use the size to take away the easy two points by taking the foul and making his assignment earn the points from the line. With only 1.9 personal fouls in over thirty minutes per game, he shows he can play in control. In the second possession, he’s again making one step ahead too early, which completely opened the play-finisher’s angle inside the arc. That’s the habit that puts too much pressure on a team’s defensive rating, as Raynaud is early lured away from his positioning underneath the basket. That’s the main reason he’s only averaging 1.2 blocks per game despite being one of the tallest fives in the ACC.
The third play below shows defenders around him responding to dribble penetration. Therefore, stepping out helped the ball handler get the freeing bailout dropoff pass to the play-finisher inside the arc. That’s hurting him on top of jumping too early when ball handlers get in the paint, as shown in the fourth play below.
Catch-and-drive
However, Raynaud’s saving his defensive potential with his excellent last step as a closeout defender. He’s good at keeping his balance when closing out against shooters. On top of that, he’s sliding his feet well, using tags and body touches as his go-to to compensate for a lack of foot speed. Banking on his physical advantage helps Raynaud to force ball handlers to beat him off the dribble. The positive is that he can use his length and active hands to deter shots and layups inside the arc. This helps him to focus more on his duties as a rim presence and interior defender while having enough foot speed to close out and effectively defend against ball handlers on the perimeter. That’s what helps him in the NBA to actively play against opponents running four, or even five-out-styled schemes.
In the first play below, Raynaud closes out excellently keeping his balance on the last step. Despite the lack of burst, he shows good lateral quickness to keep his assignment in front of him until the rim where his length and physicality were the key to the opponent missing the lay-in. That continues in the second play below. Raynaud recognized he didn’t close out at 180 degrees, giving away the driving lane on the baseline. His counter was tagging the dribble penetration while helping the defense arrive early. Closing out at 180 degrees remains one of the areas of development for NBA coaches to help him develop that end once he enters the NBA. The positive is that Raynaud remembers to make ball handlers beat him off the dribble, with the third play showing an excellent example.
Catch-and-shoot
Raynaud’s solid closeouts form the base of his effective defending against spot-up shooters. He’s using his length well to bother shooters. The value added to his draft profile is that he’s more dialed in to close out at 180 degrees, where he’s taking the driving lane away on most occasions, leading to Raynaud comfortably focusing on fully contesting spot-up shots. He’s hesitant to put his body in to avoid fouling and handing opponents three opportunities at the line. Regardless, in an NBA game where more fives are asked to close out and stop shooters, Raynaud positions his profile well compared to his peers.
In the first play below, Raynaud kept one foot inside the paint, relocating to cover the entire strong side near the elbow and corner. This helped him to rotate back to the corner shooter, where he did well in not biting on the jab step before heavily contesting the spot-up three. In the second play, Raynaud kept two feet inside the paint, which was too rich. He has to work on his habit of not clogging the strong side too much. Despite the late closeout, his length was the saving factor as he decently contested the wide-open three, which resulted in him positioning himself too far at the strong side.
The third play is an interesting one. Raynaud does well to drop enough to force the ball handler to the kick-out pass to the corner. He used long strides to close out, even throwing in both hands to contest the shot. Despite the made three, that was a good play on Raynaud’s end. This continues in the fourth play, where Raynaud harassed the ball handler at the top of the key with his help defense. With the spot-up shooter positioned too far outside the interior, that’s something he could afford with a good shot contest and closeout after the kick-out pass occurred.
NBA Draft Projection
Based on the strengths and areas of development mentioned in this scouting report, I project Maxime Raynaud to be a lottery pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. His role on the offensive as a short-roll-passing pick-and-pop threat is fueled by his excellent shooting and screening ability.
He has areas to clean up on the defensive end. Regardless, Raynaud has a clear path to be a starting five on an NBA floor where his ascending from a walk-on to an ACC Player of the Year worthy campaign as a senior shows his development and makes it feasible he’ll continue to improve in the NBA.