Every year the game of basketball gives birth to new stars and says farewell to hoopers we've watched over the years. Normally I drop this before the start of the NBA season, but this time I wanted to gather more information. Just hours away from the upcoming college basketball season, I feel like the timing is perfect. Without further ado, let's take a trip across the pond with Nolan Traore.
Over the last year, this 6’5 French point guard has been establishing himself as a top prospect in the 2025 NBA draft. In the era of combo guards, it's refreshing to see a top-tier playmaker. While Traore has the ability to score in multiple ways, I believe his driving is what opens up his game. He's extremely quick and has the court vision of an elite playmaker. With NBA spacing, I think he just becomes more dangerous. We got a glimpse of him playing the American game in the Nike Hoop Summit, where he scored an efficient 18 points while playing alongside AJ Dybansta. Then we saw what he looked like amongst his age group at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament, where he tallied 45 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds.
Over the summer, the talk coming out of Durham is that Kon has been the biggest stock riser in college basketball. When we see highlight clips put out by the team's social media accounts, we only get the positives. A few weeks ago I went to Duke to check out this team and got to see the Wisconsin prodigy up close. Before the game started, I was shocked by how huge this guy was. The 6’7 and 217 lbs listing is legit. His shooting reminds me of Luke Kennard, and to my surprise, he has sneaky athleticism. This Duke team is loaded with talent, so the numbers won't tell the full story, but the film will. He looks like a lottery pick to me.
As a fan of ACC basketball, this is one of the weirdest cases of switching roles I've ever seen. While at UVA, Dunn was known as a defender with a careful shot selection because he wasn't a great jump shooter. In his 2 years at UVA, he was a 23% 3-point shooter. Today in the NBA, he shoots 39% from deep. His shooting at Summer League and preseason caught my attention, but seeing it carry over to the regular season had been crazy. His defense is still on par with what I thought it would be at the NBA level. A projected defensive specialist has become a 3&D wing. I think he was the perfect draft pick for this Phoenix Suns team.
I was high on Coulibaly when he was in France playing alongside Victor Wembanyama for Metropolitans 92. On the first watch, I noticed how he didn't bite on fakes and defended full court. That alone works in his favor on the NBA level. After seeing him in person last season during the in-season tournament, I left the game believing that he was one of the best players in his draft class. At 6’8 with a 7’2 wingspan, he has been one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. Fresh off a silver medal at the Paris Olympics his offense is coming along while his body is adapting to the physicality of the NBA. The Wizards aren't expected to win much this year, so he is in a position to play freely, and it's paying off. Right now he's averaging 19.4 points and 6.2 rebounds on 60% from the field and 47% from the 3-point line. Maintaining those averages for 82 games sounds unrealistic, but I don't think he's going to drop off by much. The Wizards are in a rebuilding phase, but I believe Bilal will be a core piece of the team's future plans.
