Kenny Kasiama Scouting Report

• Name: Kenny Kasiama
• Team: ASVEL
• Nationality: France
• Height: 6–9
• Weight: 198 lbs
• Wingspan: 7–0
• Active hand: Right but also very effective with left
• Position: Small forward

Player archetypes and tags: Offensive skilled, potential 3-and-D, physical slasher, aggressive, the weak-side cutter, defensive versatility, positional length, close-out attacker, versatility

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I’m Kuzey, 20. I’ve been writing about basketball since I was 9. I worked in Eurosport Turkey for two years. I have written on various sites and magazines before. I’ve been working as a freelance scout for three years. I worked as a consultant. I have interviewed dozens of prospects such as Theo Maledon, Deni Avdija, Henri Drell, Paul Eboua, Aleksej Pokusevski, Arturs Kurucs, Yves Pons, and dozens of notable basketball people such as Luis Scola, Xavi Pascual, Jonathan Givony, Dimitris Itoudis, Ekpe Udoh, Pero Antic, Maurizio Gherardini, Georgios Printezis, Sasa Obradovic, Joan Plaza, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Derrick Williams, bla bla bla. Anyway, hit me on Twitter. @kuzeykg

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Season stats

ANGT

Four games, 34.4 minutes, 12.8 points, 7.3 rebounds (3.8 offensive), one assist, three turnovers, two steals, 1.3 blocks, three fouls, 2.8 fouls drawn, 40.4 FG%, 30 3PT%, and 90 FT%.

France U21 League

Six games, 15 minutes, 6,8 points, 2,7 rebounds 0.7 assists, 0.8 steals, 61.5 FG%, 20 3PT%, and 53.3 FT%.

Background

Kenny Kasiama was born on March 5, 2003, in France. He started basketball because he was tall for his age when he was 10 years old. His father was a wrestler, has a strong upper body frame and agile legs. His stepfather is a colorist in advertising. His favorite team in NBA is Oklahoma City Thunder because of Kevin Durant. His favorite meal is an African dish called aloco and his favorite tv series is Narcos. He likes to play video games and spends his time on Netflix. Multiple sources defined him as an excellent human being. He likes to spend his time with his teammates and other athletes, like a track-and-field athlete Heather Arneton, etc. Likes to listen to other opinions and evaluate those. He likes the basketball because the basketball helped him a lot to become a man, so, he can put the work on the fitness room and the court. Kasiama coming from Nanterre, played for INSEP and now he is with LDLC ASVEL.

Physical

Possesses impressive length, Kenny Kasima provides multi-positionality on both sides of the court due to his 6–9 length and 7–0 wingspan. Kasiama is a long-term prospect physically in my opinion. While he has a good width on his shoulders, muscular triceps and biceps, strong torso, agile legs, pretty good back anatomy, it’s is visible that he lacks strength. However, he already has a physical base. He can build a strong frame on his fantastic base in my opinion.

Biomechanics

Kasiama’s use of elbows and the mechanical action on his shoulders is very interesting, to be honest. The French player, who develops his game over aggressiveness and physicality, can mechanically use the deltoids on his shoulders while extending to the basket. I mean, with the power of rotation from his shoulders, he can somehow throw the ball into the basket and score in super bizarre angles and tight spaces. The point that draws my attention to his elbows is the way he uses them. Being an aggressive driver rather than a shifty or crafty dribble driver, Kenny can use his elbows at different angles while attacking close-outs and can easily throw the ball in front of him, while pushing his opponent with his shoulder, he can raise his stance and score quickly. Seems like he has a flex torso and strong core muscles. I am thinking it because Kenny can be very quick in low stance with long strides and can finish it above the rim. So as known, to do that, you should be like an elevator. I do like KK’s wrist movement but too mechanical, to be honest. Doesn’t have a soft touch or something like that, but it is okay for me when I think of his aggressiveness and physicality. Kasiama’s hips are average mobility, he can translate the power from the ground, moves very well laterally and linearly, runs on the open court quickly, and definitely has good vertical leaping. Quick on his feet, the French versatile forward jumps off of two feet very well but it has hard to say the same thing for one-foot. I do like the strength that he has on his calves and kneecaps. While the alignment on his knee inconsistent on his shot, it is good that he can use his kneecaps like a nail in quick slashing situations and blocks. My biggest concern here is about his body preparation. To understand that, his shot will be enough. While he shooting the ball, he bends his hips and aligns his kneecap. He bends his hips and aligns with his knees while the ball on the way, and also, after picking up the ball, his right foot is approaching his left foot involuntarily, which sometimes breaks his entire shooting mechanics. He should work on his body preparation in my opinion.

OFFENSE

• Has an excellent offensive potential to play at the high-level European basketball. Because does his best job as a third or secondary ballhandler and can be effective without the ball in his hands. It is true that having a primary creator and slasher is a super useful option but as known, there should be a complimentary wing that can attack close-out, is smart, has a ceiling to improve as a shooter, and is a reliable ballhandler. I do not think that Kasiama is an exclusive ballhandler and shifty/crafty player, however, his aggressiveness, mechanical slashing, long strides, strong touch around the rim, refined footwork, and smart play make him a good wing on offense.
• Playing with high-motor, it is hard to stop if the defender biting by his fake. His fantastic steps, excellent agile and strong (strong for his peers) frame and mature game IQ stand out here.
• Doesn’t turnover prone but occasionally, loses the ball while driving wildly and forces the game. Is able to use some fundamental advanced dribble crossover moves like a spin, drop-mixering, etc.
• Can use both hands and really provides the same effectiveness. Very comfortable while finishing through contact on the move. Shows maturity and quickness.
• Very good on off-the-ball motions. Knows a variety of cutting styles to create his space and can finish those possessions with strong touch around the basket. Also, does a perfect job on some BLOB and SLOB styles. Can use the empty angle, is able to make an accurate move on horns chin, knows how to play at STS and is a perfect target in screen the screener out.
• Doesn’t an interior scorer but can be in my opinion due to his physical tools. Has some drop-step move that catalyzed by quick lower body movement and elbow motions but just doesn’t finish it. The same for the pick-and-roll (either roller — handler). Has to work on it.
• The shot comes-goes. Not a good CnS shooter, but also not a primary shot creator. Doesn’t have versatility on his shooting. Has problems due to lower body form but release and timing give hope. The free-throw percentage at the ANGT is very promising.
• Developed his offensive instincts, unselfish but it’s still hard to define him as a good passer. Has shown some flashes of drive-and-kick/drive-and-dish but inconsistent. However, shows potential as a gravity passer. Has shown flashes of short rolling passes, bouncing one-handed arrow passes, etc.

DEFENSE

• I do like what Kenny brings to the table on defense. First of all, is a positional defender due to size and can learn to guard multiple positions by working.
• Can bend his knees to get down in a super effective defensive stance, has the lateral quickness that makes him able to cover tons of ground, uses his long frame aggressively to avoid the offense’s slashing, and definitely can play through contact. Shows good turns on defense.
• Playing with high energy and motor, Kenny has a good deal of side-to-side quickness to stay in contact with shifty or crafty guards and forwards in one-and-one situations. The best thing here that his perfect size allowing him a huge deflection and steal chance in those situations. Speaking of steals, well, is active in passing lanes but can play gamble a lot.
• Not a shot-blocker but knows how to protect the rim with length, energy, basketball IQ, and nice rotations.
• Able to blitz the PnR and recover to his man but he can get scrambled by the ballhandler.
• I do not like his close-out defense due to his overhelp defense. Is an overhelp defender and can create some open shot chances for his man on the corners.
• Has the courage to cover post-up players and does an excellent job to use his legs as leverage to push the post-up player to force the game but isn’t a completely switch defender yet.
• Can be a sleepy defender on off-the-ball motions.

OVERALL

I do like Kenny Kasiama’s current situation and potential. The 2003 international pool is a quality pool. There are six NBA potentials in my opinion and also many EL potentials. Kenny Kasiama was shadowing in this wonderful pool for a while but he is rising as he shows at the ANGT Valencia. It is really hard to find a player who is okay with play as a third option on offense while he is on the court, but Kenny’s skill-set and game mentality are the perfect fit for this. He plays with know his limitations. He improves and I can buy his potential. Because he already is a decent scorer due to his close-out attacks, solid court vision and reliable play. Also, on defense, he provides versatility. So if he develops as a shooter, he definitely will be a crazy prospect. I do not think that he will be a good choice for the short-term but can give very tasty fruits in the long-term, in my opinion.