Melvin Ajinça Scouting Report
France is known for producing NBA talent consistently. Melvin Ajinça is the next one. The 6'8" knockdown shooter has the potential to be a plus defender. What more should you know? Find out more below
The NBA is actively looking for size combined with shooting depth. However, when someone offers both traits, their defense will be challenging. In a shooting-dominant league, true wing defenders are still a rare commodity. And that’s where Melvin Ajinça has the potential to find a long-term spot in the league.
Physical Profile
At 6’8”, Melvin Ajinça has a strong frame that’s still developing at 19 years old. His lateral quickness is something I didn’t see often with a bulky-built player like Ajinça. The vertical pop is something to be desired, but in terms of rebounding it doesn’t get in his way.
With his long arms and consistent motor, Ajinça has the tools that NBA franchises look for. On the open floor, he has shown impressive finishes at the rim, but when it comes to the functionality of his athleticism, Ajinça is still learning how to utilize his body in the best way.
Offense
Considering his NBA role, Ajinça will mostly be asked to knock down open jumpers and be an active cutter. When studying his film, his off-ball movement stood out. He’s an active screener who likes to pop to the perimeter. A willing shooter at his size, with the track record to show for—40.4% on 208 three-pointers last season.
Plays like these make Ajinça a surefire starter, despite being only 19 years old. Actively cuts to the strong side, but adjusts quickly after the ball-handler utilizes the screen to switch sides. The off-ball screen is what broke the defense down, whereafter Ajinça popped to the perimeter for the above-the-break three.
The release is clean, however, it is too slow for my taste, and bringing the ball down didn’t help the process either. At the NBA level, the difference in athleticism will lead to harder closeouts on each play, despite the court being bigger than in games with FIBA rules.
Seeing how easily he gets to his spots, Ajinça could become a volume shooter at the next level. With over four three-point attempts in the last two seasons, the sample size is there, which is an early green flag in his profile.
In sets where Ajinça isn’t used as a screener, he’s still eager to get to the right spots efficiently. A demand for a plus-sized wing shooting out of screens is something I expect to see more in upcoming drafts. Therefore, the play below is something I value heavily in Ajinça’s profile.
Unlike the first clip, Ajinça looks more comfortable catching the ball with his left hand, resulting in a quicker release. There is a form of consistency in this, which makes me curious if he’s working on his catch with his right hand more. It’s not an area of attention for his profile, but something NBA decision-makers should monitor when preparing a plan for his development at the next level.
In a faster-paced NBA game, being able to score in transition will be an important aspect of Ajinça’s game. Considering his solid rebounding, he’ll have opportunities to create or finish transition plays via grab-and-go opportunities.
In the play above, Ajinça grabs the defensive rebound and shows his ability to go coast to coast in a matter of seconds. With long dribbles, he shows he prioritizes dribbling with his left hand, instead of both hands, which is a concern for his long-term potential. Despite it ending up in a miss, I still like his aggressiveness and decision-making here.
In general, finishing at the rim is an issue for Ajinça—51% on 138 attempts at the rim in the last two seasons. However, the important context of the difference in play style and the lack of a defensive three-second rule both lead to a lower percentage, naturally. However, when studying the bigger sample size of rim finishes, I saw Ajinça being focused on finishing with one hand, instead of both. Combined with his touch needing some work, that’s an important area of development to work on to fully reach his potential.
With almost one offensive rebound per game, Ajinça shows he can impact the game by generating extra scoring opportunities for his team. What stood out is that after almost every rebound, he made the pass to the perimeter instead of hunting a putback. To me, this is a huge plus. Often with younger players, you see that their will to win get in their way in these type of plays.
But with Ajinça, the team-first mentality is visible in his game. He takes pride in playing as the important role player, looking to make others better when he’s not scoring. In an NBA context, a bigger court will improve the odds of him finding outside shooters easier.
When it comes to his passing, there is some untapped potential. With 1.2 assists to 0.7 turnovers this season, that’s a promising start. When looking at his film, he’s always looking for the extra pass, even when he’s open.
There are some advantages and disadvantages to that. The advantage is that Ajinça respects the team concept of the game, and will not look to express his individual skills, which can be a disadvantage. However, in his projected NBA role as a catch-and-shoot wing defender, he doesn’t have to bear those responsibilities.
The play above shows how composed Ajinça is. He’s a decent passer, but an excellent decision-maker, which is harder to develop most of the time. This is a green flag and shows you that he can play an immediate role on most rotations despite his young age.
In terms of his long-term potential, I don’t see a scenario where Ajinça can serve as a playmaker with the ball in his hands. The handle needs a lot of work, and Ajinça not dribbling with his right-hand makes him an easy target. However, in the limited sample size, I saw how he made the right decision on each play.
Defense
The first thing that pops out when evaluating his game is how well he slides his feet on defense. Despite lacking the first step to match the intensity against quicker players, he’s able to keep ball-handlers in front of him with his lateral quickness.
In the play below, Ajinça closes out quickly and doesn’t lose his balance, forcing the 3PT shot. With his long arms, he can contest the shot effectively without coming too close to the player and risking a reaching foul.
The area that needs work is Ajinça's handling contact on the defensive end. Despite his solid frame, he’s struggling to absorb the hit, losing too much ground and allowing his assignment to knock down open midrange jumpers.
A part of the explanation is him being 19 years old and playing against older competition. However, an athlete of his caliber should be able to handle more contact. Getting stronger is an area of development for Ajinça this season.
On the other hand, a trait that’ll definitely make Ajinça get more NBA minutes is his switchability on defense. As we saw above, he slides his feet very well on defense and can handle playing against guards. In the play below, we see him picking up an offensive player full-court, resulting in the block at the rim, even when switching sides.
His screen navigation is good. Especially for someone his size. He doesn’t aggressively fight through the screen but tags the screener and slides his body around instead. That’s an important thing to mention in his profile. Despite the limited sample size of him as a pick-and-roll defender, that’s something NBA coaches will use him for.
In the play below, we see Ajinça going to work in the point-of-attack. Avoids the incoming screen as the ball-handler relocates to the side, and he keeps his ground in the post-up resulting in a clean contest.
An important area of development is Ajinça’s ability to close out. Often, he’s caught playing too near to the rim, missing his assignment, and allowing open catch-and-shoot three-point situations.
At moments is him getting caught ball-watching, but in other cases, a late reactionary speed is a reason. That’s an early red flag, but looking at the possessions closely, I caught a few positives:
Always rotates quickly
Puts a hand in a shooter’s face at all times
No negative body language after conceding a field goal
In the play below, you can see an example of him sticking too much to the painted area. At a certain point, the opponent plays four out and that’s a sign that Ajinça should recognize with ease.
Developing a better feel for the game is something that will come with time. These mistakes are no show-stopper of getting drafted, but more an indicator of him needing some extra time to play real NBA minutes.
Something that’ll translate early on is his rebounding. Ajinça thrives on a strong defensive box-out, and what makes it NBA-compatible is that he’s always thinking one step ahead. Considering the fact the NBA game is quicker and is focused more on switching, having a strong body down low playing the three will give a team an advantage to win the rebounding battle.
NBA Draft Projection
The lack of self-creation and handles limit the long-term potential in Ajinça’s profile. His NBA role looks predetermined as a floor-spacing volume shooting wing. Therefore, I don’t see him as a possible first-round pick.
However, NBA teams get a proven shooter and rebounder with a developing defensive skillset. The ability to slide his feet well on defense and switch to multiple positions is a worthy mention for his profile. Ajinça playing an immediate role will be determined by improving his areas of development mentioned in the scouting report.
Overall, I expect Ajinça to be selected between 41 and 50 at the 2024 NBA Draft.