Pacome to Dadiet: Projecting Pacome Dadiet's NBA Stock
Pacome to Dadiet: Projecting Pacome Dadiet's NBA Stock
Stephen explains why Ratiopharm's Pacome Dadiet is ready now, while having as much upside as anyone in this class.
Prelude: The Visibility Bias ft. Intel Season
We are in the home stretch, getting closer and closer to the 2024 NBA Draft! It has been a wild ride—full of twists and turns. The debates have heated up despite the lack of film, or even combines and exhibitions to dissect. You can bet there are prospects who have improved their draft stock even without playing a game. Intel season is in full force, as players are interviewing with and working out for NBA teams. With that, people are becoming infatuated with mocking and projecting players to organizations that have spoken highly of them.
This is not an uncommon practice—even by some here at No Ceilings. It’s also not a bad practice to know where players are valued. For one, it’s just pretty cool to see how teams value certain players. Additionally, it can be helpful as sort of a recalibration mechanism. I’ve felt compared to dive back into the film on several prospects based on how certain teams have valued them.
We can also fall victim to availability bias—particularly at this stage of the draft cycle. While the college season is finished, there are some international players who have continued their longer seasons. Their ability to be seen gives them more inherent value. This is not all that different than what we saw from Lachlan Olbrich, Ben Henshall, or Alex Toohey at the beginning of this cycle. These three benefitted from playing prior to the start of the college season, and were thought to be potential second round talents. We no longer see their names on draft boards or mocks.
One player who has seen their stock rise drastically at this stage of the draft cycle is Tidjane Salaun. There are some intriguing things to like about Salaun:
He’s young (turns 19 on August 10th).
He’s lengthy (listed at 6’9” with a reported 7’2” wingspan).
He plays with a high motor.
He has high upside due to his effort and athleticism.
At the time of this article, Tidjane was mocked to the San Antonio Spurs with the eighth overall pick on ESPN’s Mock Draft that dropped May 31st. They have him as their 10th-best available player per their own rankings. The Ringer has Salaun ranked 11th. The Athletic has him going to OKC with the 12th pick in their latest Mock. We have him ranked 21st at No Ceilings. His stock has trended upward while the majority of this class was running and jumping in Illinois.
I have warmed up to Salaun over the course of the past two months, as he now sits 22nd on my board. He is not, however, the focal point of this article (he will come up again, though).
The Buildup
Pacome Dadiet has played the game of basketball since 2011—when he was about five years old in his home country of France. Coming up, he played with other notable countrymen—such as the aforementioned Tidjane Salaun—as he became older and leveled up in skill and competition. All of this information can be found in an interview Dadiet had with NBADraft.net at the beginning of May. In that interview, Pacome explained that he originally grew up playing the point guard position, that his dad and older brother both have played at high levels of basketball, and that he continued to develop over this past season.
There are a lot of interesting bits in that interview—and I encourage all of you to read it yourself. One of two things that I walked away appreciating the most is how young he was when he made his professional debut.
“…I played the last few minutes of that game [debut against JDA Dijon]. It felt good, of course, but I think the game I remember the most was a French Cup game when I had some actual playing time because it was a second division team and I was scoring my first points and I remember dunking on someone and stuff so it was probably one of my best memories to this day.
The second thing I gained a ton of understanding as a reference point into the season was reading about Pacome’s path just to play for Ratiopharm this season. Eric Guilleminault—the interviewer from NBADraft.net—spoke to how Dadiet went from winning the bronze medal in the U17 World Cup in July of 2022 to playing his first game with Ratiopharm in January of 2023. Pacome went into detail on what he did with that six-month halt in in-game development.
“It was frustrating, of course, because I had to wait and be very patient. It’s not like when you’re injured. When you’re injured, you know, you can’t play. But I could play. So I just got in the gym.
Honestly, I just worked. That’s all I could do. I worked with Jimmy Rhoades a lot. I spent a lot of time with him and I was still participating with the team—even though I wasn’t playing. So it was a great opportunity to still compare me to other players.
…It [that adversity] made me better.”
There is something about a player who locks themself in a gym when they don’t have to that will always attract the attention and respect of talent evaluators.
One other thing that stood out was when Dadiet was asked about his height.
“I know I’m 6’9” right now, but I don’t know my wingspan.”
Eric did a great job of providing the context that a lot of players don’t know their wingspan, but folks within the draft community care a lot about those sorts of things.
6’9”, though!
The Dive
The Offense
Pacome Dadiet had a strong season coming out of Ratiopharm ULM. With his 6’9” frame, Pacome proved to be positionally versatile. That versatility shows itself on both sides of the court. Synergy grades him out as “Very Good” on all possessions (which includes assists) on offense, with him averaging 1.191 points per possession. That put him in the 73rd percentile as an 18-year-old prospect.
Offensive Rebounding / Putbacks
This is probably not a skill set many would associate with Pacome, but he was an excellent second-chance player with Ratiopharm. On 24 opportunities, Dadiet attempted 15 putback shots—converting on 11. That equates to 73.3% efficiency, good enough for him to grade out in the 81st percentile (Very Good).
Per Synergy, Dadiet is credited with 43 offensive rebounds in 59 games played. His offensive rebounding percentage of 6.17% would have ranked in the 151st rank in NCAA this season. If you were to apply the “Wing G” filter to all players with a minutes percentage of at least 70%, he would rank 26th. Applying the minutes criteria to the “Wing F” filter, he would have ranked 43rd. Among all freshmen with the same minutes criteria, Pacome would have ranked 3rd. That is for an 18-year-old playing professional basketball.
His timing and use of his tools are what sets him apart as a rebounding wing. Even where he is shooting a three, he isn’t out of range to gather a miss, attack the rim, and finish with ease. There is no “oh, Pacome is shooting a three. I can leave him alone for the miss” thought process that can be applied, as shown in the clip posted above.
Of course, he is perfectly capable of cleaning up after his teammates, too. This clip shows Pacome’s ability to find openings, yes, but also how defenses react when pressure is applied to the rim. As the pick and roll is run, Dadiet’s defender has to rotate to stop the drive. Even though the ball isn’t passed to the cutting Dadiet, he is able to time the miss and convert the putback dunk perfectly.
Off-Ball Movement
The rebounding is just a little scene setter for how well-rounded of a player Pacome has become. Of course, there is much more that Dadiet can do as a polished offensive threat.
Similarly to how Dadiet shows good understanding of how to attack the glass as defenders react to rim pressure, he can also make timely cuts to present himself as a good target for an assist. ULM does a very good job of working the ball inside the left elbow on the clip, which causes confusion for the defense. As the entry pass is made, the defense switches. Dadiet’s man has to rotate over, as the big has beaten his man to establish deep position. Pacome recognized this immediately, and makes a 45 cut to the rim. The switch never stood a chance.
The thing I want to call out in particular here is this:
For a player who is largely thought of as a shooter, Pacome doesn’t sit outside the line.
There is no “I just want to shoot threes” mentality with Dadiet. He makes the best play that the situation provides.
Dadiet can make cuts to the basket within the flow on an offense as well. It was mentioned in the interview he took part in in early May, but Dadiet did get some run playing the four for Ratiopharm. In this clip, we see Dadiet run up to set the ghost screen at the right wing. Both defenders involved in this play overcommit to the ball handler.
This gives the Pacome the line to dive to the rim. A terrific bounce pass finds Dadiet in stride, who gathers the pass for the dunk. Synergy credits Pacome with 41 possessions on cutting play types, in which he ranked in the 81st percentile (Very Good).
Connective Ability
Pacome is much better at receiving passes and finishing plays than he is at facilitating—at least, at this point of his career. He has taken strides during this season to become a better connective playmaker, though.
In this play, Dadiet is the recipient of a pass where he makes a decisive cut to the rim upon the catch. He slips by two defenders, which means the defender on the weak side block has to step up and contest Pacome’s shot attempt. Dadiet goes up into a shooting motion—locking in the help to commit to his shot.
If you look at the defense as soon as Dadiet goes up into his shot, there are two passing options he has. One option he has is to pass to his teammate making the same-side, baseline cut to the rim. Two things to keep in mind with this option:
It’s an easier read for Dadiet, as this pass isn’t obstructed.
It’s the easier read to defend. The defender to the right of Dadiet can rotate over easier. The helpside defender can step over to contest easier.
The second option—the one that Pacome ultimately goes with—has a couple of considerations that go along with it:
It’s the more difficult read for Dadiet. There is a defender directly in between where he and the recipient are.
It’s the more difficult to defend if/when the pass gets to its target.
We see what happens once the pass is made and it connects. The help defender immediately becomes the primary defender and he is out of position. Dadiet takes advantage of a little bit more difficult of a look to get his teammate a little easier of a bucket.
This next look isn’t off of the threat of Dadiet putting up a shot, but he does make a great look based on the defense reacting to the action he runs. Pacome starts this clip off at the top of the key, with his man in a deep deny stance. Once he gets the ball, wait for the screener to come up to his left.
Pacome’s man sells out to go over the screen, likely due to his ability to shoot the ball (more to come on the shot later). The defender guarding the screener stunts toward Pacome once the action starts, then goes to recover to his assignment. This could have been a miscommunication. It also could have been an attempt to make Pacome pick up his dribble, as he isn’t thought of as a break-you-down-off-the-dribble player.
Dadiet is able to keep his dribble alive on the play, and then zip in a beautiful bounce pass that finds his teammate on the move. The pass is placed perfectly around the two men engaged on Pacome, and in front of the help defense.
Shooting
We now get into the skill that may be Pacome’s best skill, and what makes all of the other niceties seem that much sweeter: Dadiet’s jumper.
Dadiet grades out in the 83rd (Very Good) on catch-and-shoot jumpers—shooting 38.6% from three. We see an example of his catch-and-shoot ability in this clip.
Ratiopharm runs a fun set throughout this play in its entirety, but I wanted to hone in on this portion of it. Pacome starts this clip moving through the paint and setting a screen that gives his team a three-point option on the right wing. The stagger action completely captures the attention of every defender—drawing the help over. Pacome’s responsibility after the screen is to peel out to the left side.
As Pacome’s teammate gets the ball on the left side, Dadiet flares out to the weak corner. What makes this play work is Dadiet’s shooting ability paired with ball handler driving to the right elbow. Notice how there are four defenders guarding three offensive players. That leaves one man guarding two players on the weak side. A glance through the defender to the man in the corner keeps that defender frozen, giving Dadiet the opening to let the jumper fly. Three easy points for Pacome.
Pacome is spatially aware on offense more times than not. Look at how the offense pushes forward on this play—it’s almost like an NFL line creating a hole for their running back to spring free to the endzone. As the ball is worked to the right wing, Pacome is just outside the right corner as his teammate begins cut to the rim.
Or, does he? The two ultimately swap actions, with Pacome now running to the rim. Dadiet’s action frees up his teammate on the right side. The ball handler now shifts to run a pick-and-roll action driving to the left and the defense is tilted right. The two-man game now draws the eyes of the defense, and Dadiet’s man is now behind his assignment.
Dadiet is shielded by two perfectly-placed screens that force his man to choose between two terrible angles to contest his three-ball. There is so much space for the shot to fly because of the play design, but also the pace and spatial awareness Pacome has. The shot preparation is picturesque.
Dadiet only shot 31.3% on dribble jumpers. That percentage is rooted in 32 credited attempts. That percentage isn’t great.
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s take a look at the process that the numbers cannot show you. This clip isn’t very long—obviously not the entire play—but I want to look at how Dadiet is improving his self-creation. One second into this clip, Pacome is getting a screen set to his right. Pacome does go to his right the majority of the time (76.3% to be exact), but let’s see what an NBA has to work with in this young man.
The defense elects to go under on this play, perhaps not expecting him to shoot driving right. Dadiet recognizes the amount of space given to him, and takes advantage of this opportunity. Pacome gathers off of two dribbles and gets into his shot. The defender is on the free throw line and Pacome begins his shot. There is no chance for a contest on this very good three-point shooter.
The Defense
I will not sugarcoat this: the defense needs some work. Synergy shows that Pacome allowed 47.3% on his twos and 39.0% on threes. If tools are equaled to height, length, athletic ability, and feel for the game, Dadiet possesses tools as much as most in this class. It is in this area that you have a ton of runway for him to improve as a player with a very polished offensive game.
Pacome has a steal percentage of 1.87, and a block percentage of 0.99. Again, not great, but there is upside for a player who is still growing physically and in ability. There are some play sets where he showed plenty of promise.
Against spot ups, Pacome allowed a field goal percentage of 37.3%—35.6% from deep.
Spot Up Defense
Pacome Dadiet has a tendency to overcommit when he is the help defender, which gives him a lot of ground for him to recover back to his assignment. I also think it’s worth noting that Ratiopharm’s use of Dadiet at the four isn’t likely where he will play in the NBA, but it’s good to see there is some experience with him playing down the lineup.
We get to see a good example of how Dadiet can rotate when he is locked into where he should be positionally. There is a handoff that goes into a pick-and-roll on the right side of the floor to start this clip. As the ball handler drives right, he throws a hooking skip pass to the left side of the floor.
Dadiet starts off in a good position on the drive prior to the pass, which puts him in a great spot to deny a quick entry pass on the weak side block. This does give some daylight for the pass into the corner, which is what happens next. Pacome is able to recover to the corner and closes out with his side, avoiding injury.
Synergy grades Dadiet out in the 45th percentile (Average) on 130 possessions.
Off-Screen Defense
Dadiet gives defensive possessions a ton of effort and energy, which speaks to his motor. On this sidelines out-of-bound play, Pacome is tasked to defend the man who is looking to get the ball. The two get into a quick engagement, where Dadiet is led into the incoming screen. Pacome is able to rub off his teammate’s shoulder and maintain pursuit of his man.
Once the ball is inbounded, Dadiet is behind the play. He gets back into the play by maintaining his off-hand high (avoiding foul trouble), sliding his feet at the perfect angle to close off the ball handlers path to the rim, and giving no other option but to counter. The spin away from the basket is what Dadiet’s effort forces.
Once the dribble is picked up, Pacome gets extremely vertical. He squares up to give no layup angle advantage to his man. Dadiet gives no breathing room, using ideal technique to avoid fouling and force a tough jump-hook. The shot sails well over the basket due to the tools Dadiet uses to his advantage.
Pacome graded out in the 42nd percentile (Average) while guarding assignments that came off of screens. He only allowed a field goal percentage of only 39.1% on 29 possessions.
The Juxtaposition
I stated earlier we were going to touch on Tidjane Salaun at a later point within this piece. We are now here. I am not doing this to squelch the Salaun draft stock. I’m sure that me stating that may pique your suspicion, but I just want to state that with 100% honesty. As I stated earlier, I have grown to become more of a fan of Tidjane and have him ranked 22nd at this point.
But, I am going to compare Pacome to Tidjane. The purpose of doing this is to have an anchoring point in my evaluation of Dadiet. Who better to anchor to than the prospect who is experiencing a meteoric rise?
To start, I want to compare the measurements that we have—which is, admittedly, not much. When evaluating the frames of the two players, it’s weird to see how close they are in height and weight—especially when we analyze them positionally. Salaun is more of a forward, and is typically thought of as a rangy, lengthy frame of a project player. Conversely, Dadiet is thought to be more of a wing despite seeing a considerable amount of playing time at the four this season. We even see that Dadiet is filled out a little bit more.
Part of the appeal with Tidjane is the presumed lengthier runway he has over other prospects in this class, as one of the younger players. He is only 15 days younger than Pacome. The presumption that Salaun will fill his frame out, and will improve because of his motor and age…those same considerations should be applied to Dadiet, as well. I was also operating under the notion that Salaun was one of these “late-to-the-game” prospects; I believed Tidjane had not played basketball quite as long as he has.
In the previously-mentioned interview I posted with Pacome, we read that he and Tidjane have been teammates, and that Dadiet has played basketball somewhere around the age of five or six. In an interview I read from Pro Insight, I educated myself and found out that Salaun has played basketball since he was seven. I’m not sure why I was under the impression Tidjane was a player who came to basketball at a later age, but I was. Knowing what I know now, I feel just as good about Pacome’s developmental curve as I do regarding Tidjane’s.
Spotting Up
When it comes to spot up shooting, most people would assume Pacome Dadiet has the edge in this department. They would be right. We won’t get too much into the percentages for Pacome since we looked at some numbers in the dive section, but Dadiet laps Tidjane in most shooting metrics. The numbers aren’t listed, but Pacome is also +10% on dribble jumpers.
Tidjane spent more time in this play type, which has been great for his development. With math working the way it does, the points-per-possession leans heavily toward Dadiet. With people already knowing and understanding Tidjane is not as good of a shooter, these numbers aren’t that shocking. Even with Pacome being the better shooter, Salaun is the prospect valued more highly. Let’s look at some other metrics.
Transition
I feel if I were to take a poll (maybe I will) of who people feel is the better athlete, I’d wager the scale would be heavily tilted in Salaun’s favor. He is discussed as if he is a substantially bigger player with more twitchy athleticism. With this thought process, perhaps most would assume Tidjane is a much better transition athlete. Take a look.
Salaun does operate in this play type just over a percent more often in relation to playing time. Surprisingly, he also tops Pacome on three-pointers in transition by over 11% on 11 more attempts. Dadiet has been more efficient on twos on the break, besting Salaun by almost 3% on 13 fewer attempts. The points-per-possession may not feel that significant, but it’s enough for Tidjane to be ranked in the 43rd percentile and Dadiet to be in the 40th. The slight edge goes to Salaun, but it is interesting that Pacome is better on twos, and Tidjane better on threes.
Cutting
Scoring off of cuts has to lean toward Salaun, right? Tidjane has six more possessions on cuts than Pacome, but Pacome has spent a higher percentage of his playing time on cuts. He’s been more efficient as well. Scoring on almost one whole percentage more of his cuts, Dadiet has scored over a tenth of a point-per-possession more than Tidjane.
That edge in efficiency ranks Dadiet in the 82nd percentile and Salaun in the 65th. Having the presumed length advantage has given Tidjane a serviceable play type for him to succeed in. Even still, Pacome’s more natural feel, timing, and understanding of reading defenses have allowed him to convert at a higher clip than Tidjane.
Pick-and-Roll Ball-Handling
Most would probably give the nod to Dadiet for operating out of the pick-and-roll. Listing this isn’t to necessarily show how close they are, but to give an understanding of how much work Tidjane will need to put in to improve in this area. Cholet didn’t give Tidjane much of an opportunity to operate in this play type, but there are two things to point out here:
Pacome didn’t either (fifth most frequent play type)
Salaun was used more here than in isolation (2.0%)
Pacome’s background as a primary ball handler prior to playing professional basketball gives him something to fall back on, and proved to be helpful in this play type. He is a more gifted, polished, and trusted scorer on his own merit. Not only was he better on his three pointers while operating out of the pick & roll, but he was more efficient on his twos. Obviously, Pacome ranked higher in points-per-possession among his peers.
Offensive Rebounds / Putbacks
Surely Tidjane holds the advantage on putbacks, right? He’s bigger and more athletic, so that would make sense.
Surprisingly, both players spent an eerily similar percentage of their total possessions scoring off of offensive rebounds. Pacome scored over a tenth higher on points-per-possessions, converting on over 20% more of his attempts. Dadiet somehow managed to attempt a three-pointer off of an offensive rebound, but missed it. He ranked in the 81st percentile on putbacks, while Salaun ranked in the 64th—which is still good, as deemed by Synergy Sports.
Shooting Metrics
Again, when it comes to shooting, it won’t surprise people to see Pacome ranks higher than Salaun. This is just to amplify Dadiet’s strength while illuminating where Tidjane is as of now.
One important metric to take note of is that Salaun has proven to be someone who can’t be left unattended from beyond the arc. 38.8% for him on 103 possessions is significant. For those wondering, he shot 37.8% on open threes on 98 attempts. This is where evaluators are on to something about projecting Salaun’s upside. Beyond those open threes, Salaun leaves a lot to be desired when being heavily contested or creating a shot for himself.
Finishing Metrics
I’ll spare the “gotcha” lead in with this section: Dadiet, surprisingly, has finished better around the basket than Salaun.
Some of these areas aren’t necessarily bad for Tidjane; it’s just Pacome has been that much more special. Neither Salaun nor Dadiet were good on their runner/floater attempts, but Dadiet did edge out Salaun. The natural feel and touch on his shots show on those shots, but also in the layup numbers. Salaun did attempt almost ten more layups, but the craft Pacome uses allowed him to be almost 17% more efficient. Both players converted on their dunk attempts at a high clip, but Pacome finished every dunk opportunity he took. Ultimately, was about 10% better around the rim than Tidjane—which is likely counter to many fans’ assumptions.
Connective Metrics
This last subsect of the juxtaposition section covers connective stats: rebounding, decision-making, and defense. This isn’t meant to be a deep dive, rather a broad stroke. Positionally, it makes sense Tidjane would be a little bit better on the offensive glass. Salaun also took a sizeable lead of over 2% on defensive rebounding percentage.
One area that stood out to me in favor of Tidjane is the assist and turnover percentages. Salaun holds a slight assist percentage lead over Pacome, and also turned the ball over at a lesser rate. Those broad playmaking metrics could speak to better processing, or to the fact that Dadiet is going to make tougher passes due to his lead guard background.
Tidjane stole the ball at a much higher rate, but Pacome was able to block the ball at a higher clip. Despite being considered to be a more “projecty” player, Salaun had a significantly higher usage percentage—almost 3%. To contextualize this, Dadiet played with Juan Nunez—a 2024 NBA Draft prospect with a usage percentage of 22.7, and Trevion Williams—a former draft prospect who had a usage percentage of 26.1. Salaun had one other teammate with a usage percentage of 20 or higher.
Curtains
Pacome Dadiet has had a wide range in terms of where he is projected. At No Ceilings, we have Pacome as the 31st-ranked prospect. The Athletic mocked him to the Portland Trail Blazers with the 24th pick in their latest mock. The Ringer had him 25th on their latest Draft Guide update. ESPN ranks him 36th on their best available players. The wide range of opinions certainly provides a murky outcome as we are now in “Draft Month.”
The sell for Pacome is fairly simple for me. With several of the prospects who were thought of as the top shooters in this class having withdrawn, Pacome provides a polished shooting repertoire. There are only 14 college freshmen who rank within my Top 100. There are only seven players within my Top 100 who will still be under 19 years old on draft night. Pacome provides good positional size, having guard and forward experience. His work rate and ethic are both regarded as being quite high.
Dadiet has multiple pathways to playing time in the NBA and, with favorable age, size, athleticism, measurables, and drive, he is a versatile asset with plenty of runway left ahead of him.
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