European Prospects

In our series of borderline Draft prospects, we take a look today at Louis Labeyrie from France. The French inside player has been on the radar for several years but his development has stacked a bit recently.

Profile

• Name: Louis Labeyrie (FRA)
• Date of birth: 11th February 1992
• Current Team: Paris-Levallois (FRA)
• Stats: 6.1ppg (66.7% 2FGs – 56.0% 3FGs), 3.rpg, 13mpg (ProA)

Body Measurements (from Adidas Eurocamp)

• Height with shoes: 2m08 – 6 feet 10 inch
• Wingspan: 2m10 – 6 feet 10.75 inch
• Reach: 2m66 – 9 feet 3 inch
• Weight: no value

Athletic testing results (from Adidas Eurocamp)

• 3/4 Court Sprint: 3.499 seconds
• Lane Agility: 11.481 seconds
• Reaction shuttle: 3.031 seconds
• No step vertical: 57cm – 22.5 inch
• Approach vertical: 70cm – 27.5 inch

After being considered a very interesting prospect several years ago, Louis Labeyrie has not made the expected progress since he arrived at Paris-Levallois. Quite long and vertical in his game, Labeyrie lived a lot from put backs and dunks on drive and dish situations, while he had as well a basic back to the basket game with the simple jump hook. Labeyrie started to shot three-pointers on a regular basis this season and he finished the season in France with an astonishing 56% on however only 25 attempts. At the Eurocamp, the 2m08 tall prospect showed though that his long-range shot was not very regular in the execution as his legs were often spread widely or not in a pure shooter position. Nevertheless, this additional offensive option gives him more potential on the Power Forward position for the future but he needs to become a better handler in order to be capable of attacking the basket from outside.

View from France (by Valentin le Clézio)

Labeyrie had a very promising season at age of 19 with Hyères-Toulon that was followed by two years as a end of the bench option in Paris. Labeyrie is still the same agile and athletic big man but he has not filled out physically the past 3 years. Buried on the bench by Gregor Beugnot, it took a fight and several players being suspended for Labeyrie to make his return to the court. He had a coming out party against Clint Capela and Chalon in front of a dozen NBA scouts in March and ended the season on a high note. His jumper has noticeably improved (14/25 from long-range) and he certainly has some stretch 4 potential. Nevertheless, it seems as a little too late for a player who spent less than 300 minutes playing organized basketball this season.

Valentin le Clézio is a Scout writing for Eurohopes.com

NBA Draft 2014 Outlook

Workouts: none reported

Louis Labeyrie has not made any workouts before the Draft which is not a very good sign for a player of his background. His chances of being drafted are really slim but he might being selected by a team that likes his potential and has seen enough of him already.