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Drafted #28 in the 2005 NBA Draft by the Spurs
Height: 6'10" (208 cm)
Weight: 220 lbs (100 kg)
Position: C
Hometown: Rouen, France
Current Team: Wizards
Win - Loss: 3 - 1

Articles

NBA Scouting Reports: Filling in the Blanks- Power Forwards (Part 2)

Matt Williams
Matt Williams
Sep 04, 2009, 11:57 am
Overview: A gifted, young, and athletic power forward who lacks the experience and polish to see significant minutes. Possesses good size and length for his position, and has packed on some muscle to his still somewhat skinny frame since entering the NBA. Displays good mobility and gets off the floor well. Nice athleticism for his size despite injury history. Intriguing physical tools along with rebounding and shot blocking instincts made him a prospect coming out of France. Spent two additional seasons in France after being drafted late in the first round by the Spurs. Showed some signs of improvement, a trend that has continued in his time playing with the Spurs’ NBADL affiliate, the Austin Toros. Still could develop into a nice roleplayer, but needs to stay healthy. Missed almost all of the 2008-2009 season with a bad ankle. Needs to get the development of his offensive game back on track and play minutes wherever he can in San Antonio’s organization.

Offense: Developing offensive player who shows flashes of potential. Gets most of his touches in the post or as a hustle player. Used to show extremely good lateral quickness that allowed him to create easy opportunities for himself on the inside and out. Time on the sidelines has hurt his explosiveness to a small degree and has generally slowed his development. Still able to use his speed to do some things in the post. Lacks the strength to consistently establish deep position, but shows a nice running hook over his left shoulder as well as developing turnaround and face up jumper. Displays very nice touch with his right hand around the rim across the board. Length makes his hook extremely difficult to block. Jumper is still a work in progress, looks capable when he has time and space, but lacks the mechanics to get good touch on every shot. Capable finisher around the basket who is able to do some damage on the offensive glass with his length. Gets to the line at a very good rate. Will go up strong when he has a lane to the rim. Needs to continue working on his post repertoire and left hand to take full advantage of the attempts he gets around the rim. Can put the ball on the floor with his back to the basket to get in better position to score, but is still a bit turnover prone. Will have to continue polishing his game from the midrange in to cut down on mistakes. Not much of a passer, but displays better vision than he did in his younger days. Has some obvious tools and potential, but definitely a work in progress on the offensive end.

Defense: Has very nice defensive tools, but still lacks the fundamentals to stay on the floor for extended minutes in an NBA setting. Length and athleticism allow him to effectively defend the midrange and contest shots, though his lack of physical strength hurts his ability to defend the paint against more experienced back to the basket scorers. Gets quite a few of his blocks defending the ball one-on-one. Needs to do a better job going straight up when he’s rotating over from the weak-side. Still prone to hacking shooters, leading to foul trouble. Got a free pass during his time in the NBADL, but will need to continue improving his discipline to help himself translate to the NBA level. Quick hands and feet for a big man, could stand to add weight to become a more complete package defensively and improve his ability to box out and battle for position on the block.

Rocky Mountain Revue Day Three

Matt Williams
Matt Williams
Jul 24, 2008, 01:26 pm
This was probably Mahinmi’s best performance of the Summer League offensively. Mahinmi didn’t do the best job finishing at the rim, but for the most part, he didn’t have a chance. His quickness allowed him to get good enough position that Dallas had no choice but to send him to the line. The young French power forward made all 11 of his free throw attempts, displaying a nice release. His jump shot has its strong points, but he still needs to be more consistent. In addition to getting to the line at will, the slender power forward did a very good job on the offensive glass, taking advantage of Dallas’s lack of a comparably athletic post player. Today’s game was not all good for Mahinmi though, as he showed his inexperience on a couple of occasions where he lost the ball by making a move into help defenders. His offensive game has come a long way, and the tools are there for him to add value to an NBA team down the road in addition to his athletic presence down low.

Las Vegas Summer League Day Four

Matt Williams
Matt Williams
Mike Schmidt
Mike Schmidt
Jul 16, 2008, 12:06 am
Mahinmi gave a strong showing today, but showed that he still has a ways to go. He’s got very nice touch for a player with his skill level, making it seem like he could develop a very nice back to the basket game over time. He’s a solid finisher at the rim, but lacks the physical strength to take contact effectively. It seems like he’s added some size, and has the frame to become much strong. Mahinmi is a fluid athlete more than an explosive one, making to tough for him to get all the way to the rim, but easy for him to put his man in a compromising position and draw a foul. He didn’t get a chance to show it today, but he’s capable hitting jumpers from the midrange as well. He’s still very young, and his comfort level offensively is only going to improve over time. Defensively, he uses his length well to accumulate rebounds and change shots, but still has a lot to learn. He doesn’t commit nearly as many fouls as he used to as recent as a year ago, a testament to how far he’s come. The Spurs have the luxury of waiting for Mahinmi to develop, and he seems like he’s headed in the right direction in the long-term.

Zaragoza, The Best of the Rest: Frontcourt

Luis Fernández
Luis Fernández
Sep 09, 2004, 01:00 am
One of the most pleasant surprises of the tournament was this 6'10 French and very athletic paint player. His vertical leap is simply amazing for a guy of his size. He can jump out of the gym to grab a board or to block a shot. 7.4 rebounds and 1.8 rejections are not bad at all for 20 minutes of playing time, although he needs to improve positioning and timing. He is extremely raw, but he already shows some incipient movement in the low post and -what's really important- a very good attitude. This kid works very well without the ball to position himself under the basket. As yet he shows neither midrange nor, obviously, perimeter skills.

Physically his body is quite skinny and underdeveloped, not common at all among the French ballers. For that reason he suffers on defense getting banged around the low post. His lateral quickness is more than sufficient for his position, though. Given his physical profile, he's a guy to keep an eye on for the future.

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