What to Expect From Ibou Badji at the NBA Level
Last Friday the Portland Trail Blazers announced the signing of Senegalese big man Ibou Badji to a two-way contract. The former Barcelona player had been on NBA radars for a number of years due to his combination of tremendous measurements, defensive production and offensive flashes.
Despite the intriguing potential he showed across multiple international competitions during the last few years, the 20-year old Badji signed with the Wisconsin Herd of the G League after not being selected in this year’s NBA Draft.
In his seven-game campaign for the Herd, however, Badji showed the potential to add value to the Blazers in a couple of specific aspects of the game.
Rim Protection
Badji’s calling card as a prospect has always been his potential as an interior defender. His physical profile is optimal for a rim protector, standing at 7-foot-1 tall with a 7-foot-8 wingspan and a 9-foot-7 standing reach. Badji combines his tremendous size and length with an impressive leaping ability that helps him to contest and block shots that most Centers aren’t able to affect.
His tools translated immediately into defensive production at the G League level, as Badji blocked an average of 2.4 shots per game during his stint in Wisconsin, placing him in the top ten of the league as a rookie.
At the next level, Badji will likely need to clean up some aspects. Defending outside the paint is still a work in progress for him and his measurements present a bit of “a gift and a curse”, as seems more comfortable relying on his size and length to recover at the rim than actually trying to contain opposing players outside. While this approach might work in the G League, it won’t always work in the NBA against quicker, faster guards.
Play Finishing
One of the most difficult aspects to assess in Badji’s pre-draft profile was his low shooting percentages considering his size, role and level of competition. Badji shot just 53.1 from the field across his three seasons in Spain, playing as a 7-foot-1 Center in lower levels of competition that, considering his size, he was expected to dominate.
However, Badji was able to turn things around in his G League run, as he shot 61.8 percent from the field.
One of the biggest factors related to his improvement is the way in which Badji was utilized during his time with the Herd. While in Spain his teams rarely ran pick-and-roll plays with the intent of targeting him in the paint, Badji thrived in Wisconsin on a limited-but-efficient role as a lob threat, where was able to use his size, length and leaping ability to convert easy catch and finish situations in transition and pick-and-roll plays.
His size and length helped him to also thrive in second opportunity situations, as he was able to secure offensive rebounds and go for putback dunks at a solid rate.
Badji has shown flashes of touch in tough shots around the basket, but he’s still not at a point where you would be comfortable making him handle the ball near defenders or allowing him to shoot jumpers; it’s likely that his optimal offensive role initially at the NBA level is as a play finisher at the rim who will catch lobs and generate second chance opportunities with his ability to crash the offensive glass.
NBA Questions and Projections
Badji does have limitations when it comes to playing away from the rim on both sides of the court, but in his stint in Wisconsin, Badji showed solid improvement and erased some of the question marks that plagued him as a prospect in the pre-draft process.
The Badji signing is a perfect example of the low-floor/high-ceiling type of bet that NBA teams are expected to make with two-way contracts, as Badji has every tool to make an impact within his role as a rim protector on defense and interior finisher on offense, which could turn him into a valuable piece for the Blazers down the line.
Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.