Pacôme Dadiet Scouting Report

High expectations are a result when a physically gifted prospect's skill level stands out at a young age. What's the NBA intrigue? How will his role look like? Find out more below.

Photo via Basketbol Gündemi

After starting his career at Paris Basketball, the then 17-year-old Dadiet decided to move to Germany to play for Orange Academy Ratiopharm, where things went fast for him.

A year later, Dadiet found himself in the rotation where he’s playing about fifteen minutes per game for Ratiopharm Ulm, which competes in the highest-tier in Germany, and in the Eurocup, the second-highest international league in Europe.

Physical Profile

At 6’8”, Dadiet is still growing into his body. He has broad shoulders and a solid frame, which helps him in guarding multiple positions on the court. He has a decent first step, but a much quicker second step and acceleration. Despite his young age, his upper body strength is impressive, as he bulked up and still, he’s shown the same athletic tools as before this season.

Dadiet has fluid hips and combined with his lateral quickness, he’s giving signs of being able to defend against NBA guards and wings. With his long wingspan, he doesn’t only disrupt passing lanes, as he loves to play a physical brand of basketball, which earns him valuable minutes as one of the youngest professional basketball players at the highest level in Europe.

Offense

At the NBA level, Dadiet has to show that he can consistently score on open three-point shots to get himself in the rotation early on in his career.

While shooting 33.3% on 2.1 attempts per game, he has consistently shown a few positives this season, with the ability to move toward the position where the pass needs to land, instead of just waiting for the ball, with the first two plays below being examples.

At the next level, he’ll also continue to serve as an off-ball screener to get himself open on the perimeter, which is an area that is one of the reasons why Ulm is so keen on playing him a good amount of minutes per game, with the third play being a good summary of where he’s at on those as mentioned above.

When playing out of closeouts, Dadiet shows a good enough burst to blow by his opponents to get downhill effectively. His first step is decent, but he’s more comfortable getting to his natural speed after this second step. At the NBA level, this may cause struggles against quicker perimeter defenders, but in Dadiet’s case, his strength level also plays a factor.

That’s something that’s set him apart from his peers, which made it easier for him to stand out against his age group. At the NBA level, the ability to finish both hands, as shown in the plays below, is something that’ll translate easily.

With a 52-percent finishing rate on 67 attempts so far this season, the numbers don’t support the above-mentioned. However, the non-existing three-second rule and playing against more packed interior defenses are two reasons why the context differs in comparison to prospects that play on American soil.

When evaluating all attempts, it was clear that Dadiet cares more about the substance than the flash, as he’s preferring moves he’s comfortable, with the hook-finish being one of them.

As a wing-scorer in the NBA, it’s important to be able to serve as a secondary creator for others or be a good enough ball-mover to keep the offense flowing. In Dadiet’s case, that means quick execution of his reads. However, he isn’t put much in situations where he has to create for others.

With 0.6 assists per game against 0.9 turnovers, the sample size is limited. When evaluating both, Dadiet has shown a consistent form of quick decision-making that’ll have NBA decision-makers intrigued.

Something that he does well is he’s using hesitation moves or aggressively placing his pivot foot before the launch to trigger help defenses. He makes sure that opposing help defenders are rotating to him before delivering a dump-off. When that’s not the case, he shows his footwork to open up the passing lane to find cutters.

As an 18-year-old, that type of decision-making is something to build on. What makes the long-term potential harder to predict is the limited sample size in both the youth level and the pros. So that’s an area NBA decision-makers should continue to motor throughout this season and make a part of their draft workouts with him.

Without the ball in his hands, Dadiet makes great decisions as a cutter. He’s playing the right way and he either launches for the contact if his assignment loses track of him as the backdoor cutters, or goes in attack mode to cut hard to the rim when opponents are busy with their rotations.

Something that he does well, and which will translate to the NBA is tagging potential screeners, and keeping it physical without fouling. His strength is something that keeps the defense busy, which makes it more likely that Dadiet can play a low-usage role at the next level of his career. Teams that like to run motion offenses, which is increasing in the NBA, look for an off-ball threat like him,

In terms of feel for the game, NBA teams should know they get a more experienced player despite his young age. The functionality of his athleticism on cuts comes from his finishes at the rim, which he’s comfortable with, as he also has a surprisingly well vertical pop when considering his strong frame.

In a halfcourt-minded European game, the sample size of Dadiet’s transition offense is limited. However, something that’ll benefit him at the next level is his ability to play at a higher pace. Whether it’s him receiving the pass in transition or in ‘grab-and-go’ sequences after collecting the rebound, Dadiet is an aggressive scorer who looks to score quickly after the opponent misses.

Something that he has to work on is that Dadiet isn’t always consistent in getting as deep in the paint as he can, which leads to him settling for lay-ups further away from the basket, which leads to him struggling to combine taking on the contact, and comfortably finishing his lay-ups, with the second play being an example.

In terms of the long-term potential for Dadiet as a wing-scorer, the future is bright. His plays in isolation are important flashes of what’s to come when he’s proven himself early in his NBA career to earn more ball touches and usage.

He’s already mastered utilizing his physical tools at a young age. With a quick second step and acceleration, Dadiet is keen on creating separation and advantages off the dribble. In the short term, he’s mostly focused on getting paint touches to finish with lay-ups, or when the separation is good enough, he’ll set his feet quickly to pull up for the midrange jumper.

A very promising detail of the above-mentioned is that Dadiet doesn’t settle for bad shots. A part of it is that he’s solid at finding the looks he wants, but another part is that he has learned to play the right way, with decision-making is something the French youth development spends a lot of time on with young prospects. This carried over well after the transfer from Paris to Ulm, Germany.

On the offensive end, Dadiet has the potential to be a high-end scorer once he fulfills his potential. What’s an important indicator of his success is the feasible flashes he has shown so far, this makes projecting NBA success much more likely.

Defense

On the defensive end, Dadiet’s most common tasks will be defending in space in either point-of-attack situations or in closeouts. As an off-ball defender, there’s the most improvement to be made to make the most out of the defensive potential of his physical tools.

When defending against closeouts, Dadiet shows that he has the defensive footwork to position himself well. However, his decent first step looks less effective on the defensive end, where his quick second step and acceleration solve most possessions where he struggled to defend against his opponent attacking him while he’s closing out.

His strong frame allows him to contest hard at the rim. And with only 1.2 personal fouls in almost fifteen minutes per game, Dadiet shows he can play without fouling, ensuring that his team can continue playing at a high pace and reward his physical tools that help him to effectively defend near the rim.

An early concern in Dadiet’s profile is his off-ball defense. He has shown consistency in getting caught ball-watching, or simply losing track of the play when opponents ran heavier motion offenses, which is something he’ll likely face in the NBA as well.

This has been a concern for several years, and despite some improvement so far this season, it’s not on a level yet that’ll keep him consistently on an NBA floor. Dadiet’s physical tools compensate for most possessions, as he’s still able to contest well on the shots of his opponents, but in the long run, this will lead to him not being able to fulfill his defensive potential.

When Dadiet has a clear assignment and the amount of switches is limited, we see him focus better on the task at hand. This is visible in his defense against cutters, which makes it more likely that he’s able to adjust and grow as a defender in the long run.

In the two plays below, we see Dadiet losing focus for one second, but he quickly recovers and tags the cutter, before his teammate rotates well to contest the shot at the rim. In the second play, Dadiet again tags the cutter and makes sure he uses physical contact to deny him the ball in the drop-off under the rim.

In terms of the fundamentals, Dadiet shows that he’s doing the right things on the court. However, his off-ball defense as a whole is the biggest area of development in his defensive profile.

In a switch-heavy NBA game, being able to guard against the pick-and-roll is a must-have for the modern NBA wing. In Dadiet’s case, it’s visible that his defensive footwork is solid, and he slides his feet very well. However, he’s slow to react with his first step after a ball handler finds the separation he needs.

Another area of development is Dadiet’s lack of defensive awareness which is leading to his struggles as an off-ball defender continuing in his pick-and-roll defense. The screen navigation is not there, and that’s an issue for his long-term NBA potential.

In Dadiet’s case, he’s too focused on what the ball handler is going to do, rather than also considering his surroundings, with the incoming screener being the most important one. An advantage in his game is that Dadiet keeps his composure and avoids picking up unnecessary fouls or giving up potential and-ones, with the second play being an example.

When projecting improvement in the future, Dadiet is showing great instincts when he’s dialed in and focused. This improves the above-mentioned more likely to come in the future, and that’s what should matter for NBA decision-makers.

In the two plays below, Dadiet reacts quickly to rotate and uses his length to disrupt the passing lanes for the ball handler to utilize, with him even snatching the ball out of the driver’s hands. With him sliding his feet well, and slowly even trapping the ball handler toward the sideline to deflect the pass, followed by the hustle play. His activity on the defensive end has never been an issue.

NBA Draft Projection

An NBA franchise is buying the prospect of a high-end wing scorer that can impact the defense in the long run. If everything clicks, I see a floor of a solid starter in Dadiet, which immediately increases his long-term draft value. However, Dadiet still has areas to clean up on the defensive end.

With an NBA roster spot and usage being scarce, it’s not likely that a team will give Dadiet all the room to develop without G League reps. Considering that the G League is a lower-level competition compared to the German league, declaring for the 2024 NBA Draft would be a risky thing to do for him at this stage of his career.

At ratiopharm Ulm, Dadiet has all the room to grow in his role and even be a starter for his team next season. Therefore, coming back for one more season would be beneficial to his development on both ends, as he should grow as an off-ball defender and show that he can put up the production to convince NBA decision-makers.

If Dadiet declares for the 2024 NBA Draft, he’ll likely end up as a second-round pick who will be stashed in Europe for another season. However, if he decides to bet on himself and prepare for the 2025 NBA Draft, based on the above-mentioned areas, and taking improvement into account, Dadiet has the potential to be a lottery pick that can come in and play right away in the 2025-26 season.