The versatile French forward is an well-rounded NBA prospect but appears to be heading towards a late first-round selection.
The NBA draft edges closer and closer, and while prospects’ seasons from NCAA have been over for months now, in Europe the season is finally beginning to wind down. Successful teams in their respective domestic leagues play as late as June, and this can result in prospects having to miss the NBA Draft Combine, with international prospects attending a combine session in Treviso, Italy.
This event took place last week, with prospects like Noa Essengue, Ben Saraf, and Nolan Traore among prospects attending — as did today’s prospect, Noah Penda, who turned in some impressive measurements at the combine.
Penda, a 20-year-old French forward, measured at 6 foot, 7 inches tall (without shoes), with a 6’11” wingspan, a standing reach of 8 feet and 10.5 inches, and weighed in at 242 pounds,
per Sports Illustrated. Penda plied his trade with LeMans, averaging 10.2 points per game on 44.7% shooting on 7.9 attempts, 32.2% from three on 3.1 attempts, 66.7% from the free throw line on 3.3 attempts, 5.5 rebounds, 1.6 offensive rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.9 blocks and 1.6 turnovers in an average of 27 minutes in 37 games played,
per RealGM.
All of that is a lot to digest off the bat, but examining all of these numbers tells us quite a bit about Penda before even seeing him in action. First, those physical measurements are strong and check a lot of NBA boxes. Ideal forward size, really good wingspan for being 6 foot, 8 inches tall (which is what he will be in shoes), and a really good NBA body at just 20 years old — you’ll be hard pressed to a ton more NBA-ready bodies than Penda.
In terms of his on-court stats, they suggest a well rounded game: solid scoring production on a solid percentage, just under half of his overall attempts are from three (with a percentage that’s a little less than ideal but certainly not uncommon at this stage of a young career), good free throw shooting numbers in terms of attempts, solid rebounding, playmaking potential with just under three assists a game, and defensive production in blocks and steals.
Penda played a power forward/center style hybrid for LeMans but shows a lot of guard tendencies too. He’s a fascinating hybrid player and is a versatile player with a versatile skillset. Let’s look at the film because I’m looking forward to showing you Penda’s game.
Offense/scoring
Penda has demonstrated potential as a scorer: he can attack off the dribble, can use hit the three, and likes to operate out of the post at times (though, these possessions seem to set up more in passing opportunities than for Penda’s own offense, but he will back it down in the post). The post play, I would imagine, won’t see as much development in the NBA, and I’d say right now the best aspect of Penda’s offense/scoring right now is his ability to attack the rim, both in halfcourt and fullcourt situations.
On this play, Penda receives the ball and attacks going to his favored right side, his body carving out space for himself as he overpowers his defender before spinning and finishing at the rim:
On this play, Penda fakes the three and finds a way to slither past his man and he gets to the rim and finishes with finesse with the reverse layup to help evade the defense at the rim:
Penda attacks from the corner this time, and his athleticism provides a threat to the defender at the rim on this play — who decides that it’s perhaps better not to contest the onrushing Penda — and Penda finishes with the dunk:
Again, Penda utilizes his strength and is able to help carve out space for himself on the drive and is able to power by on the drive and finishes at the rim:
On this play, Penda is fed an entry pass and as soon as he feels the defender try to reach in and, in turn, put him out of position. Penda immediately drives and again finishes at the rim:
In fullcourt/transition situations, Penda poses a similar threat, as he does so on this transition play where he is able to finish despite the vertical contest:
Again in transition, Penda fills his lane off the ball, shifts gears to catch up to the pass in front of him, and he uses this momentum to attack the rim, takes the ball over his head to avoid the defense and powers home the dunk, plus the foul:
After an opposition turnover, Penda receives the ball at halfcourt and again carries his momentum all the way to the rim, powering through at the rim for the transition finish plus the foul:
Penda can utilize these situations for further opportunities at the free throw line where he averages over three free throws a game.
This possession to end the half initially begins with Penda dribbling the air out of the ball a bit, but after getting the screen he drives inside and draws the foul and free throws:
Here, Penda attacks off the dribble and gets into the paint, drawing contact, the foul, and free throws on the shot attempt:
It’s really easy to forget that this is a 6-foot-8 forward weighing just over 240 pounds — not just in terms of his ability to move the way he does but how he carves space for himself with his physicality and to handle the ball too. We’ll look at this more so when we’re looking at Penda’s playmaking, arguably the most impressive aspect of his game.
Let’s look at Penda’s three-point shooting; it’s solid, and some of the looks Penda works himself into will be of encouragement to the team that drafts him.
Penda’s three-point looks come mostly through either catch-and-shoot threes and a few opportunities off of the dribble.
Penda has some extended range to his threes, hitting some threes a good foot or two behind the three-point line as he does on this possession:
On this three, Penda steps into frame and into an uncontested but deep three:
Penda consistently shows he can hit deep three-pointers, hitting another one on this play:
In the corner this time, the ball is swung to Penda and he hits the contested catch-and-shoot three:
Off the dribble threes aren’t as common for Penda but he showed flashes here as he rises into the three off the dribble:
Penda is also able to use his ability to get on the offensive glass to create offensive opportunities for himself.
Off of a missed free throw, Penda extends to tap in the miss:
Off of a missed three, Penda is on-hand to extend for the one-armed offensive putback for the basket:
In an overtime game, Penda steams in off of a missed shot to steer home the second chance basket:
Off of another miss, Penda is able to grab the offensive rebound and draws a foul and free throws:
Passing/playmaking
Penda averaged just under three assists a game, and one of the elements that becomes clear watching Penda play is that he displays a high basketball IQ, can read the game, read the court, and is able to act on this vision.
This is one of my favorite clips of Penda, who pushes the ball ahead in transition, gets all the way to the rim (why he doesn’t just power for the dunk, I’m not sure) and kicks the ball out to the perimeter for a three-point attempt:
Penda does well to find teammates off his drives, as he does on this possession as Penda drives past his man and helps draw the defense out just enough from the perimeter shooter, who Penda delivers the ball too for the assist on the three:
This time, Penda brings the ball up the floor — again showcasing his comfort with the ball in his hands — and when he hits traffic in the lane he makes the quick read and direct chest-pass to the corner for a three-point attempt:
On this play, Penda begins his attacking drive from within his own half, gets by his man and when he again meets traffic in the paint he’s able to adjust quickly and makes a bounce-pass to his teammate near the rim who is blocked on this occasion:
On this drive from the perimeter, Penda gets to the baseline and whips the pass out to the perimeter that could have easily set up a three-point attempt (instead, it ends in a turnover on the offensive foul):
This next drive feels as though Penda drives into the paint with the intention of always passing the ball back out to the perimeter, which he does and leads to a three-point shot:
Penda’s more ‘stand-still’ passing I think is quite strong too; we’ve see him execute a couple of differing types of passes and there’s more to show in that regard too. It all highlights Penda’s ability to successfully hit an array of passes.
Stand-still from the corner, Penda whips a one-handed pass to his teammate on the weakside for a three-point attempt:
With the ball crowded on one side of the court, Penda receives the pass on the move at the free throw line area and instantly turns to whip the ball to the weakside corner for the assist on the three:
I love that play; it highlights not just an awareness of surrounding but an ability to make a quick read and quick decisions, and then to execute the vision to find his teammate.
On this play from the perimeter, Penda hits the two-handed bounce-pass inside:
Penda can sometimes look to make plays out of the post, as he does on this possession where he finds his teammate inside who draws the foul:
Additionally, Penda’s ability on the offensive glass can both directly and indirectly create chances to assist/make plays for his teammates.
Off of a missed free throw here, Penda patiently waits for his teammate to cut — while also opening space by drifting with the ball to the opposite side of the paint — and delivers the bounce-pass for the assist at the rim:
On this play, Penda helps direct traffic on this possession, grabs the offensive rebound after the miss and finds his teammate for an assist on the three:
An indirect example on this play as Penda’s offensive rebound tap helps set up an opportunity for a basket after an impressive pass following Penda’s rebound:
There’s a lot to be said for the faith LeMans put in Penda to handle the ball as a 6-8 forward and he does so with a lot of maturity — on this play you can see Penda directing traffic and how the play should look before setting up an end-of-half three:
Penda was a little too late in delivering the pass but the play itself was a solidly worked one to end the half.
Defense
Penda’s size and length are beneficial to his defensive abilities, and Penda can be a fun watch on defense for the reason he can produce highlight worthy blocks and steals; this is as good of a place as any to start.
As the help/backline defender on this possession, Penda rotates to block the shot and is able to take the rebound and begin the attack — blending his defensive abilities with his ball-handling — and completes the play by finding his teammate at the rim for the assist:
On this fastbreak play, Penda does a brilliant job to extend and block this shot at the rim and it helps fuel his team’s own fastbreak opportunity, which is eventually scored upon:
Following a fastbreak, Penda is able to use his size and length to block a shot underneath the rim:
Penda is good at these blocks underneath the rim in amongst traffic, displaying good timing instincts to block and not get caught up on fakes, and times this block under the rim well:
Penda may not always end up with the block, his vertical contests can often get the job done in deterring opponents at/near the rim.
Penda’s verticality on this possession forces the offensive player into an uncomfortable situation with nowhere to go, resulting in a turnover:
On this play, Penda rotates from the back-line to step up to the offensive player and gets his hands up and effectively makes use of his size and length to make life more difficult at the rim:
Again, Penda gets his arms straight up and makes life more challenging for the offensive player, whose shot is deterred by Penda’s length and misses:
Penda is also able to utilize his length to collect steals/disrupt plays.
With Penda switched onto a guard on this possession, the ball is attempted to be worked back to the guard to exploit the mismatch, but Penda extends to knock the ball out of bounds, disrupting the play:
At a critical point in an overtime game, Penda (at the top of frame) extends for the dig, knocking the ball loose for the crucial, essentially game-winning, steal:
On this possession, Penda’s pressure at half-court pays off, and his length helps him conjure a steal, though his attempts to finish at the rim off of this opportunity come to naught it was nevertheless an impressive defensive play out of essentially nothing:
On the intended entry pass on this play, Penda vaults skyward to knock the entry pass offline, and is credited for the steal:
Again, Penda shows potential to disrupt on defense as he knocks the low entry pass loose and the offensive player is unable to regain control of the basketball and the ball falls out of bounds:
While all of this is fantastic to watch, there are some issues/errors that can creep in.
Arguably the most glaring weakness defensively is that Penda didn’t seem to thrive when presented with guard switches, who would beat him seemingly with ease as is the case on these possessions which lead to shot opportunities/baskets:
Penda’s tendency to try get a hand in for a steal can lead him to vulnerable situations defensively, falling behind on the play here after a failed steal and he commits the foul from behind:
While Penda’s timing defensively at the rim is typically strong, misjudgements such as this one at the rim can occur, in this case Penda misaligns himself and the basket at the rim is scored with Penda looking a little silly:
LeMans played zone quite a bit with Penda helping to anchor the backline, so I would like to see Penda in more situations defending man-to-man against more mobile forwards who look to slash to the rim. Against big, post-offense oriented players Penda’s size, strength, and length serve him well, but I’d like to see more against slashing forward. I’d be perhaps a little concerned in this area given that guards seem to be able to drive by with relative ease, though some of this can be recovered with Penda’s ability to block shots.
In summary
Noah Penda is a really interesting prospect because he is, I believe, one of the more well-rounded prospects heading into the draft. His potential versatility in terms of his skillset on both ends of the floor could prove to be very valuable.
Offensively, Penda is able to score in a variety of ways. He’s good at attacking off the dribble and getting to the rim, and he has the athletic ability to do so once he gets there. His consistency finishing at the rim could use improvement, but what is encouraging is that Penda finishes at the rim sometimes with reverse layups or by other means to evade shot-blocking defenses, highlighting a finesse that you don’t always see in prospects finishing at the rim. Additionally, Penda is able to draw contact, fouls, and free throws on these drives, and while the percentage at the line could be better, the fact that Penda gets there as often as he does is a good sign.
In terms of shooting the ball, Penda’s percentage is OK, but what is perhaps more encouraging is that he takes a lot of deep, NBA threes. While 32% from three may not be ideal, I think it’s more indicative of an NBA percentage from three rather than 32% from the shorter European three-point line because he takes a lot of these deeper threes. Penda can make these catch-and-shoot threes with defenses contesting him, closing out to him and wide-open threes. Penda has taken a few threes off the dribble too, and this is an encouraging development in his game too.
Penda can also mix it up on the offensive glass to create second chance points, not just for himself but at times for his teammates too. In a similar manner, Penda looks sometimes to operate in the post (both for himself and for his teammates), and while I always like this type of variety in a player’s offensive arsenal, it’s not one that is as important in the NBA as before. Putting that to the side — which I think teams in the NBA will likely ask of Penda’s post game — Penda does what many NBA teams look for: he gets to the rim and shoots threes, and that’s where the majority of his scoring stems from.
In terms of passing/playmaking, I think you’ll be hard pressed to find a forward who has a higher basketball IQ than Penda in this draft. Penda is aware of his surroundings on the court; he spots where his teammates are and has the ability to find those teammates in those spots. Penda already displays the ability to make a number of different types of passes: bounce-pass, fire-aheads, weakside swings, passes out of drives — it’s really encouraging that Penda can hit all manner of passes with pretty strong success at this early stage of his career. Penda can do this in open court, he can do it in the halfcourt from a standstill, and he can do it on the move as he uses his ability to drive into the paint to break down the defense and find his teammates for opportunities.
Defensively, Penda can certainly produce some highlight plays. His ability to block shots both at a standstill and on the move in fastbreak situations is impressive. His length and athleticism enabling him to produce some great defensive plays, not just with blocks but steals too. Penda uses his verticality to positive effect and is an effective rim protector in France.
In the NBA where there are more forwards who can put the ball on the floor, I’d be perhaps a little concerned about Penda’s abilities here defending off the dribble as he struggled with this against guard switches. A few mistakes/lapses here and there are expected, but I think there’s still a lot to work with when it comes to Penda’s defense.
Everything I’ve described in terms of Penda’s scoring and playmaking, these are traits and strengths you typically associate with guards, but Penda does all of this at 6-foot-8 and 242 pounds. This type of athleticism perhaps can be expected at this height, but the mobility in how he moves and drives to the rim and the passing/vision at 6-foot-8 are not that common at all at this stage.
At 20 years old, obviously Penda is a little older than some prospects heading into the draft, but very few players are as well developed and rounded at this stage of their careers as Penda. You can question as to what his ceiling may be (these are fair questions), but that may also depend on the context where you select him.
We’ll discover in a moment I’m sure, but having looked at mock drafts for other prospects and noting Penda’s name towards the bottom of the first round, Penda doesn’t appear to be heading towards lottery projections, and I think he’s going to be a valueable draft pick for a playoff team and can be a steady, winning contributor for a winning team — he just does a lot of things well, and his versatility in the frontcourt along with his attributes of scoring and passing make him a fascinating prospect. If he ends up in the right situation, I think Penda will be a pick many will describe as value.
What other draft outlets report
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic mocks Penda in his most recent draft at 31st overall, however,
Vecenie lists Penda 15th among his top-100 rankings, highlighting an interesting difference potentially between Vecenie’s assessment versus NBA intel.
In his previous mock, Vecenie had Penda mocked 24th overall, and since no excerpt on Penda was included in his most recent mock draft, we’ll look at what Vecenie reported of Penda in his May mock draft:
The Thunder have a pretty significant roster crunch to the point that it will be difficult to bring two rookies onto the team next season. I would expect them to look to either stash or trade one of these players; otherwise, they will need to make significant movements near the end of their roster to dump a few of their recent draft picks. Given that I’m not projecting trades here, I’ve gone with Penda, who I’m not convinced would even agree to be a stash.
Penda ticks a lot of the developmental dribble, pass, shoot and defend boxes that the Thunder has tended to value at 6-8, 245 pounds. He’s averaging nearly 10 points per game to go with five rebounds and three assists. I think his defense is slightly overrated by his counting stats, as he can gamble from time to time, but he’s physical and projects to be switchable on that end long-term as long as his footspeed stays at a solid level as he ages. He also rotates around the court well and knows where he’s supposed to be.
Off the bat, I think Vecenie is correct in thinking that Penda wouldn’t agree to a stash selection — that’s not based on any intel but just more from the fact that I think he’s good enough to play minutes on an NBA team as a rookie. I just think he ticks a lot of boxes teams are looking for. Vecenie highlights Penda’s defensive IQ ‘knowing where’s supposed to be’ and I think that’s an accurate assessment — as is the gambling observation.
Jonathan Givony of ESPN mocked Penda 28th overall to the Boston Celtics, with this to add of Penda:
The Celtics have some big needs to address in the wake of
Jayson Tatum’s season-ending
Achilles injury, but they can’t have any real expectation to address them in the draft, certainly not this late in the first round.
Finding a combo forward such as Penda, who’s capable of soaking up minutes, hopefully gaining some experience and perhaps emerging as capable of adding value in a year from now, would be a major win. Penda’s versatility and strong feel for the game played an important role in carving out a strong role in the French first division. He is an intelligent passer who slides all over the court on defense and plays a mature style of basketball for a 20-year-old.
As mentioned earlier, it seems as though Penda’s draft stock is late first round and that’s already seemingly confirmed with the two mocks we’ve seen so far. As high-caliber playoff teams tend to select in this spot, there’s real value to be had here with Penda who, as Givony notes, could definitely soak up a few minutes and contribute to a winning basketball team, even if only in a minor capacity right now.
Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports! mocks Penda 33rd overall, praising his ability to hit passes but noting concerns about Penda’s shooting:
STRENGTHS
Playmaking: He is a glorious passer who seemingly has vision of every player on the floor and the ability to make any pass. He’ll laser the ball across the floor and hit the bullseye for a corner 3-point shooter, or thread the needle into the paint. He can pass with either hand, and has a feel for looking off defenders too. While not a primary creator, Le Mans ran some offense through him despite his youth, using him at the post and elbows, and he ran an occasional pick-and-roll.
Role-player skills: He’ll set a screen. He looks for cutting chances. He’ll crash the boards if he needs to. He hustles hard up the floor. There isn’t much Penda won’t do that impacts winning, whether it’s the little things on offense or bringing constant effort on defense.
Defense: Penda has great defensive versatility with a long wingspan and lateral quickness for switching screens. At 225 pounds, he can also bang in the post or hold up as a help defender rotating into the paint. With such a high motor and a high IQ, he already plays beyond his years as a help defender while racking up steals, blocks, and deflections.
CONCERNS
Shooting: Penda made less than one-third of his 3s this past season, and didn’t display much of an ability for hitting pull-ups or floaters from midrange. As a below-average shooter from the line, he has a long way to go to prove himself as a floor spacer.
Shot creation: He has a loose handle and is prone to getting stripped on post-ups and drives. He’s more of a straight-line driver.
Athleticism: He’s mostly a below-the-rim finisher, and because of his lack of creation skills, a lot of his layups end up tough and heavily contested.
The lack of pull-up shooting doesn’t really concern me personally — he’s not going to be asked to bring the ball up the court and drain a three. Just hit the catch-and-shoot threes right now and that’s enough for what his role is likely going to be. The pull-up may come in time — the free throw shooting definitely needs to be improved upon though.
The outlet I’ve seen mock Penda highest was
Danny Chau of The Ringer, who mocked Penda 18th overall:
In a French league populated with former NBA talents and grizzled basketball lifers, it’s the 20-year-old Penda who leads the league in combined steals and blocks per game—his “stock” rates edging out even those of Andre Roberson, the former NBA ace defender. But Penda hasn’t reached those heights just by having young legs; more often than not, he wins on defense with advanced pattern recognition and hand-eye coordination. That’s not to say he isn’t athletic—his functional strength and movement skills serve as the chassis for his processor. He is comfortable diagnosing plays on the spot, communicating assignments, and seamlessly rotating and recovering to fill gaps on defense. There is immense value in simply knowing where to be and how to get there as urgently as possible.
Penda’s spatial awareness is one of his greatest gifts on offense, too. He makes quick decisions both with the ball in his hands as a driver and on the catch as a cutter, passing into open windows for easy buckets. He’ll never be confused for a full-time point forward, but Penda has the vision and instincts to keep the wheels greased on offense as a connective arm.
The defining question in his evaluation: How will he score at the next level? Penda has yet to prove that he can consistently shoot from 3 at respectable levels (although, to his credit, he’s improved his accuracy this season and isn’t shy with his attempts). He has a confident handle and the power to work his way into the lane, but there’s a degree of inflexibility in his forays, a lack of the decelerative capacity that usually serves as the basis for most power-based drivers. Having some reliable form of offense will be essential if he’s to have a place in a lineup. Penda has all the ancillary skills; as is so often the case, how he develops his jumper will determine just how much of an impact he can make.
Shooting, again, appears to be a concern for outlets reporting on Penda. I would push back on a notion that Penda can’t be impactful if he can’t shoot. It obviously helps, but his playmaking and defensive tendencies/abilities would still be strengths on the court especially in the regular season on a playoff team.
Fit with the Hawks
Based on what notable draft outlets are reporting, it seems as though Penda is heading for a late first/early second round selection. That is mad to me. Every playoff team would love to have a player with the skillset Penda could blossom into; if he’s able to do in the NBA what he did in France — everything we looked at: passing, defending, a high-motor, a high basketball IQ, offensive potential (with better shooting numbers from three and the free throw line) — we’re talking about a steal in the late first round. I think it makes sense for a team to jump the queue for Penda.
The Hawks have the 22nd overall selection, and I think they could absolutely benefit selecting Noah Penda. He could slot in at forward or in at backup/small ball center in some spots, and that position will be interesting ahead of the speculation that is bound to surround Clint Capela this summer and his future with the Hawks now that Onyeka Okongwu has stepped into the starting lineup.
Penda could be slotted in a good development system in Atlanta which has seen the likes of Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu take big strides developing their games as forwards/centers, both in shooting the ball and working with the ball off the dribble in the case of Johnson.
One of the reasons why Jalen Johnson is so highly rated is that he’s like a Swiss army knife for the Hawks: he can score, he can pass, and he can defend. The fact he does so many things for the Hawks at a high level makes him invaluable to any aspirations the Hawks have on their season. Part of the reason why Johnson’s loss last season was so detrimental to the Hawks was that you’d be looking at needing three players to essentially try and replace what one Jalen Johnson could do. Penda, I believe, could become a player who may exhibit a similar versatility in his game (with less scoring than Johnson): the passing, the defending, and hopefully the offense/shooting.
I’m not saying Penda is going to be an All Star or going to do what Jalen Johnson does, but he can have a significant impact for a player seemingly set to be selected late in the first round. Tt’s tough to find value here typically, but not impossible — I believe Penda may represent a possibility of such value. At 22nd overall, perhaps that’s a bit too soon for the Hawks’ liking at that spot to select Penda.
Noah Penda’s potential NBA career and development, to me, is one of the more fascinating dynamics among international prospects this year, whether the Atlanta Hawks are in on that action or not. In the right organization, I think there’s a player to be had here in Penda. Come draft night, we shall see which NBA teams, if any, agree with that sentiment.
