Saliou Niang Scouting Report
The collection of burst, physical tools, and automatic paint touches makes Saliou Niang a much-wanted commodity. He fits into the mold of an energy three/four. Here's all you must know about him:
Saliou Niang (#23), 6’8” — Dolomiti Energia Trento (Italy)
Small Forward/Power Forward — Born: May 14, 2004 (21 years old)
Introduction
Niang is an unknown name in the 2025 NBA Draft. That’s genuinely shocking, considering his solid season in Italy. At eight points and five rebounds per game, Niang has a sample size of over 1,000 minutes played. He fits into the mold of a defensive-first wing with a play-finishing and improving shooting character. The term ‘3-and-D’ is overused and not applicable to what it once used to be. However, Niang’s defensive qualities and low-usage role help him to show his NBA role, which is the same as he shows in Europe now.
Toughness, rebounding, and efficiency are a must in low-usage roles. Niang will boost a team’s defensive rating. The challenge is to what degree he can keep an offensive rating afloat as an energy power three/four. That’s the emphasis of this scouting report.
Physical Profile
At 6-foot-7 in socks, Niang is a long and strongly built wing with broad shoulders. With his light feet and strength, he fits into the defensive wing-stopper mold more NBA franchises are trying to find. He’s an explosive athlete who continues to improve his overall footwork. He’s excellent vertically while showing good lateral quickness.
Niang has good length with an officially measured 6’10.75” wingspan. Combined with his explosiveness and big hands, Niang has enticing physical tools for NBA teams to continue to develop. At 204.2 pounds, there’s room to continue to add muscle throughout the next few years.
Defense
Pick-and-roll
Niang is a fluid athlete whose movement helps him defend against both ball handlers and screeners in pick-and-roll plays. He sets himself apart with his screen navigation, showing toughness and strength with his broad shoulders, which help to absorb the physicality of colliding with a screen, while he has good footwork and fluid hips to throw himself between the ball handler and screener. This brings much-needed versatility as NBA teams primarily run pick-and-roll sets, and his variety of stops boosts a team’s defensive rating.
In the first play below, Niang recognizes the double stagger well in the drag screens and uses his length to tag screeners to get by them, drawing the offensive foul in the process. In the second possession, Niang did well by staying physical as the ball handler found the dribbling angle. Despite him giving up too much ground, that’s a positive play. For NBA scouts, the consistency of staying in front of their assignments is a value riser. The third play shows an example, while his toughness and aggressive stance are shown in the fourth play, where he’s fighting through the ball screen. However, at 2.5 personal fouls in twenty minutes per game, Niang has to control his aggressiveness more at the next level.
Closeouts
Niang is often assertive as a closeout defender, but his footwork helps him to stay afloat and keep his balance. He slides his feet well and immediately embraces physicality, forcing ball handlers to beat him. However, the lack of experience often gets him caught biting on jab steps and fakes. That’s his challenge, as Niang has the tools to limit dribble penetration as much as possible. At 6-foot-8 in shoes and with his physical tools, that’s the appeal to grow into a plus defender at the NBA level.
In the first play, Niang trusts his instincts as he recognizes an opponent trying the bail-out pass to the middle of the floor. Despite the ball handler saving the play, Niang planted a strong last step and moved back well laterally. This led to him eventually hitting the deck as he used his physicality to keep his defense from collapsing while he remained attached to his assignment.
In the second possession, Niang does well not to overhelp as he closes out to the corner timely, taking away the weak side and baseline. That’s the base to succeed. The third play shows an example of his must to get stronger in the next few years. He did well to stay attached to his man after he got crossed over. Hereafter, he used his length to unbalance the finisher, but he wasn’t strong enough to stay on his feet for the box-out, giving the second-chance scoring opportunity.
Catch-and-shoot
Niang is an active rotator on defense and has solid leaping ability. He’s moving like a bursty six-foot guard on the floor, chasing opponents in sets involving ball movement. That’s the perfect evaluation context for the NBA. He uses his length and leaping to dive into shooters when closing out. The positive in Niang’s game is using his speed and length to actively disrupt passing lanes and limit passing angles when opponents move the ball. This led to 0.7 steals per game this year at Trento.
The first two plays below show how active and well Niang rotates as a defender, showing recognition of where the ball is going while adjusting fast. He’s limiting open threes as a result of ball movement. His toughness is on display in the first possession below. But in the NBA, where experienced scorers foul-bait often that’s an area of attention, although it’s more of a luxury problem to have in Niang’s case, as toughness will always prevail in an evaluation.
The third and fourth plays show how smoothly he floats over the floor, closing out shooting angles. However, NBA coaches must focus on Niang deciding to move in transition or box out for the rebound. After shots, he often watches if the ball goes in, rather than adjusting to his next move. That’s an area where he left defensive rebounds on the table, with the last play showing zero initiative after he closed out excellently to make the wide-open corner shooter miss.
Away from the ball and against cutters
To round out Niang’s defensive profile, his performance against cutters and off-ball opponents is vital. He’s an excellent team defender but often commits rookie mistakes like ball-watching. Regardless, it’s clear Niang will hold his own adjusting to a faster-paced NBA game. To strengthen the sample size, his team’s performance against the traditional top Italian team in the playoffs was mostly taken to point out examples. Niang’s athleticism and mobility are two essential factors of him building on his already good awareness.
In the first play, Niang gets caught sleeping for a second after the baseline out-of-bounds play, leading to him getting backdoored for the finish at the rim. He was busy following any rotations that were necessary after a motion on the weak side. However, Niang is fearless when he has to compensate for mistakes. The second play shows another example of not eyeing his assignment well, leading to him giving away two points while also getting posterized. Regardless, the highlights are for regular fans. The NBA scouts will love how Niang still went for the block despite the odds of getting dunked on.
The third possession shows a solid rotation to the dunker’s spot, leading to Niang disrupting the scorer. He was a step too slow on the turnaround hook over the left shoulder, but regardless, Niang didn’t give up on the play and made his presence felt underneath the basket. The fourth play shows how dialed in he is when defending away from the ball. On the weak side, Niang felt comfortable and confident in using his length to close passing angles after dribble penetration. He’s seen communicating actively while he saw the defense collapse on the strong side and immediately rotated to close the passing lane to the corner. This led to the ball handler’s hail mary, which Niang used to reward his defensive playmaking with the finish on the other end.
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Offense
Putbacks and offensive rebounding
Niang’s motor and consistent energy brings a new dynamic to his game. He’s excellent at attacking the offensive glass with his verticality and provides a much-needed spark to the bench. The other side of the coin is that he’s leaving a few points per game on the table due to the lack of touch after he secures the board. The first thing to work on is bringing the ball down, as his touch doesn’t allow him to convert in-air after securing the board or keeping the ball high when landing on his feet. That’s partially due to the lack of true strength, which he must get stronger in the next few years.
Regardless, teams will win the rebounding battle with the minutes Niang is on the floor. When he’s improving his consistency in boxing out defensively on top of the value he brings on the offensive glass, he’ll help maximize the number of possession. That’s his value to improve a team’s offensive rating.
In the first play, Niang is ducking inside the paint, sliding in front of his assignment while trying to immediately put the ball back in. The process makes sense, and except for the touch, it translates to the NBA. His energy is contagious, and in the second possession, that leads him to dive in from the weak side to be faster than the two opponents underneath the rim. The misses are no red flag, as securing the boards and being a feasible energy forward are the vital parts of his evaluation. However, the lack of touch around the rim is an area NBA coaches must help him within the next few years.
Active cutting and play-finishing
Niang fits well next to more ball-dominant players, as his offensive doesn’t require touches to be effective. Niang’s fluidity and active cutting help him to constantly move and thrive in motion offenses. His presence made it easier for his team to play at a higher tempo because that’s where his qualities are. Therefore, his fit wouldn’t be good in a half-court-minded college basketball game. NBA teams that push the pace are the ones benefitting from his presence.
As a cutter, he’s active in ducking inside the lane, forcing switches with his off-ball screens and making it easier for ball handlers to move themselves toward their passing angles. He’s trying to dunk anything because of the lack of touch around the basket. That’s one of the worries, but less vital as he’s getting the attempts. Working on his level of touch to sustain an offensive rating is the biggest area of attention for NBA teams.
In the first play, he kept his composure when he couldn’t find a passing option. His instincts to then use another player to feed his path to the rim show that he’s able to make the right decisions. The miss is concerning because it’s easier for defenders to take away his balance. In the second possession, Niang does well to cut after dribble penetration, effectively making it easier for the ball handler to use him as a dump-off option at the dunker’s spot. He’s an active cutter who looks to find paint touches. That makes it easier for playmakers to feed him off backdoor cuts, with the third play showing another example.
Self-creation out of closeouts
Niang’s closeout scoring game is essential in his evaluation. He’s shooting 31.4% on 0.6 three-pointers per game. But in his context, the three-point shot is irrelevant for now. That’s because teams draft him for his additional rim pressure while making plays out of closeouts. His first step, fluidity, and long strides on his dribbles to the rim make him an instant paint touch in Italy. In the NBA, he’ll feast on more spacing even when teams send in help, as it will be easier for him to make the extra pass in dump-offs or kickouts.
He has to tighten his handles, which is an area of attention. Regardless, Niang finds high-quality looks inside the paint while using his burst and fluidity on his drives. In the first play below, Niang does well to attack the glass via the baseline. However, the lack of strength and touch didn’t lead to him dunking it home after he was taken out of balance by the rotating help defender. In the second play, Niang has a better runway to the paint. Hereafter, he makes sure to gather in balance before rising up for the easy layin. His lack of offensive consistency leads to zero creativity with fakes. His game is solely built to take the right opportunities to score.
However, he has fakes on the perimeter, which he uses to his advantage. In the third play, Niang fakes the overhead pass and the handoff to attack the glass via the weak side, collapsing the defense with the gravity of teams trying to take away his paint touches after dribble penetration. Niang is an energy three or four in the NBA and must succeed in closeout plays. Regardless, NBA teams will make the most of his potential on that end as the physical tools could help him emerge into a paint-touch-generating wing, an archetype more NBA teams try to find.
Passing, ball-moving, and playmaking
At an average of 1.5 assists in 54 games, the numbers show a bad return. But the statistics should be taken with a grain of salt. Niang is not a consistent decision-maker with the ball and serves as a ball-mover next. But the aforementioned rim pressure and paint touches open the room to be a feared additional playmaker in the NBA. Niang has no issues in collapsing a defense, but the decision-making after that is lacking so far. Regardless, there are flashes that make future improvement more feasible.
Niang shows good habits of a ball-mover. In the first play, he’s immediately passing ahead in transition, which is a must for low-usage forwards. In the second possession, Niang sees the double after the post-entry pass. Despite hitting the deck, that’s a great play. Niang gathered the ball while not in balance and used the presence of two others to dump the ball off. The only reason he was able to make that pass was because he immediately looked around before the catch. That’s an essential trait for playmakers to have.
In the third play, Niang saves the possession with an offensive board, where he’s touch-passing it to the play-finisher, who finished the possession by executing the generated multiple paint touches. As mentioned before, Niang’s patience is another positive area. In the fourth possession, he’s waiting until the right passing angle follows in the sideline out-of-bounds play, recognizing the scorer’s will to shake away his assignment. The touch passes confirm that Niang knows what he’s doing. He’s not a playmaker in Italy by any means, but a vital piece to make their sets involving ball movement work. The transition touch pass in the fifth play is another example.
NBA Draft Projection
Based on the strengths and areas of development mentioned in this scouting report, I project Saliou Niang to be a guaranteed second-round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. His defensive versatility, excellent physical tools, and great measurements at the Adidas Eurocamp in Trento, Italy1
Offensively is where the most issues are. He doesn’t have reliable touch around the rim, nor a consistent three. But his fluidity and burst while getting consistent paint touches are the base. NBA teams won’t like the rawness of a 21-year-old on that end. That’s the main reason for him not being a first-rounder. On top of that, Niang needs to develop via the G League, and his athletic traits make translating to American basketball much easier.
Niang was listed at 6-foot-5 in shoes for the entire season before getting measured at 6-foot-7 in socks. That’s almost the other way around compared to most American prospects who see their listings being rounded up generously. The additional size serves his purpose of the role of an energy three-four, much better.