Could the Hornets Take a Swing on BYU Big Man Keba Keita?

Get to learn more about the lesser known Hornets prospects

Aaron Baker-Imagn Images

The other day, we looked at an offensive-minded big in the draft, Tre Carroll, so today we're doing a one-eighty! 6'8 BYU center Keba Keita is a rebounder, shot blocker, and freak athlete who will make his money with anything but scoring.

Keita grew up in Bamako, the Malian capital, a city of roughly 4.3 million people in central Africa. His family and friends, especially his older brother Noumory, were involved in volleyball.

But while Noumory became a professional volleyball player, Keba switched over to basketball during his teenage years. He stuck with it even though the conditions for practicing weren't great, and the prospect of playing professionally didn't exist immediately.

The continuous efforts were rewarded when Keita began attending Wasatch Academy in 2018. Adapting to life at a boarding school dead center in Utah wasn't easy, but once again Keita prevailed.

His next career stops required much less travel, as the 6'8" big man enrolled at Utah in 2022 and then transferred to BYU in 2024.

Strengths

In case it wasn't obvious enough in the opening paragraph, Keita works his you-know-what off. He's quick on his feet and has good mobility, which enables him to exist in all kinds of aggressive defensive schemes.

The footwork and positioning are far from perfect, as is the case with most young bigs. But his willingness to search out switches onto smaller players or flash quickly to the ballhandler before dropping back is encouraging.

What Keita sometimes lacks in feel, he frequently makes up for with acrobatic recoveries. A long wingspan and a considerable amount of bounce make him a frequent dunk denier.

Those springy legs also made Keba an exciting lob threat on offense. He dunked the ball 35 times last season, the second-highest mark in the Big 12 conference.

Naturally his shot profile revolves exclusively around attempts at the rim:

Hoopexplorer.com

The second offensive selling point for the 22-year-old is rebounding. Again, the athleticism was key here, especially in a college setting where he faced plenty of unathletic bigs.

Keita's offensive rebounding percentage of 13.8 ranked second in the Big 12 and sixteenth in D1 college basketball. How much the athleticism ends up translating to the NBA level will largely depend on whether Keita can quickly get a better feel for positioning.

Room for improvement

If being in the right position is a work in progress, having solid touch is... much further away. Whether it's finishing through contact, securing rebounds safely, or making simple passes, Keita struggles.

It's to the point where you don't want the ball in his hands at all unless it's an open dunk. BYU definitely seemed to think so too; he ended up averaging 0.4 assists and 0.8 turnovers on the year.

At the very least, he'll have to get to a point where you trust him with handoffs consistently. Otherwise, it's hard to see how he can be incorporated into an NBA offense.

Because on top of the jumpshot being nonexistent, Keba has only sunk about fifty percent of his free throw attempts over the course of his college career.

Fit with the Hornets

Keita's case is as intriguing as it is nerve-wracking. He's very much undersized, can't score from anywhere but directly at the basket, and shouldn't be trusted dribbling or passing the ball.

Then again, he's versatile defensively, at least a pretty good, possibly great, rebounder, and an exceptional vertical athlete who is yet to fulfill his full potential as a shotblocker and alley-oop finisher.

If Keita does make it in the NBA, it probably won't be with the Hornets, unless other moves are made. With Moussa Diabaté, Ryan Kalkbrenner, and PJ Hall, there are already three big men on Charlotte's roster who cannot shoot the ball.

Adding a fourth right now would make no sense for the Hornets. Jeff Peterson and the front office also seem to prioritize feel over athleticism, which again doesn't work in Keita's favor.

The most likely outcome for Keita at this point seems to be a good career overseas, but should the touch come along a bit, he could carve out a role as a big that plays spot minutes for an NBA team that needs an agile big man.

In any case, watching Keba Keita play is a lot of fun - because he plays hard without ever losing his joy. Equally, his life story is one of competitive energy mixed with an unbreakable positive mindset.

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