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On July 19th, Olimpia Milano officially announced the signing of the Ivorian-French center Ismael Kamagate.
Ismael Kamagate is the first of these Euroleague rookies.
ISMAEL KAMAGATE: THE PROFILE
Kamagate is a 22-year old center that has played for Paris Basketball in the 7Days Eurocup and in the Pro A during the 2022-2023 season. He stands at 211 cm and weights 100 kilos, with a wingspan of 221 cm, embodying the profile of the modern, athletic center.
The native of Paris started playing professionally in the 2019-2020 campaign, debuting with Pole France in the third French league, and shortly moving to Paris Basketball, with whom he stayed till few weeks ago. Over this 4-year span, he improved almost all his stats, which is something that could reasonably be expected, but that is still impressive for such a young prospect.
In the last season, he finished with 9.9 point, 7.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game in the Pro A, while he registered even better numbers in his european campaign, with 9.3 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. He even won the MVP of the round in round 6 with a monster double-double of 12 points and 19 rebounds (and 4 blocks) against Hamburg.
Kamagate has always been under NBA radars for his physicality and athleticism, and has been drafted in the 2022 Nba Draft by the Detroit Pistons with the 46th pick, but then traded first to Portland and then to Denver, which now owns his rights. Thus, the player decided, together with the Nuggets, to return to Paris Basketball for an additional season, and has now signed a 2-year contract with Olimpia Milan, with the goal of developing his potential at the highest European level before attempting to move finally to the NBA.
ISMAEL KAMAGATE: STRENGHTS
The very first thing that comes to mind when looking at Kamagate is his size. More importantly, the speed combined with his size.
The French center has the ability to impressively run the floor at a very high speed for such a tall player, and this allows him to benefit from fastbreaks and offensive transitions when paired with a point guard that knows how to feed him. With his lenght, he can indeed offer a more than valid solution when rolling to the basket, especially with alley-oops, and, thanks to his athleticism, he can easily finish above the rim even when contested by the opponents.
It has to be highlighted that Kamagate shows good energy and intensity for such a young prospect when at the rim, always trying to dunk the ball instead of finishing with a soft touch, which is something that plays a key difference at the Euroleague level.
Additionally, Kamagate is a solid offensive rebounder thanks to his long arms and timing, which are skills that he also uses on the defensive end to protect the rim and block more than one shot per game.
Over the last season, he also scored some baskets from the mid range with good shooting technique, so the potential is there but, still, this cannot be considered a reliable option in a late-game scenario.
Overall, the ability to run the floor and his athleticism make him a interesting fit in this Olimpia Milan, which was lacking a dynamic big with the ability to play during fastbreaks situation, especially now that Maodo Lo will lead the second unit trying to increase the pace.
ISMAEL KAMAGATE: WEAKNESSES
While body and speed are a solid yes for the French prospect, more doubts arise when looking at the decision making, both with and off the ball.
Kamagate’s ability to read the game is still a work in progress and surely a year in Milan will help him a lot, especially with Kyle Hines teaching him on a day-to-day basis but, as of now, it is reasonable to say that the player needs to develop his IQ. Setting bad screens, taking not optimal shots and being monodimensional in the pick and roll (he is very good at rolling to the basket but has troubles when this option is well defended by the opponents) are fields that need to be improved, and the same can be said for the passing skills and his low post game.
It will not be easy for him to solve these issues, but the potential, once done so, is all there to be seen.
ISMAEL KAMAGATE: COMPARISON
Athleticism, lenght and ability to run the floor make Kamagate comparable with Ismael Bako, an other player that likes finishing above the rim in pick and roll situations with alley-oops and dunks in traffic, and that well protects the rim. Like Bako, Kamagate needs to improve his basketball IQ, low post game and defense when not in a drop situation, being often in the wrong position when facing an opponent pick and roll (mainly middle pick and rolls, where he often positions himself in an in-between grey zone).
Compared to Bako though, Kamagate has a much higher potential both defensively, being much quicker (and 6 years younger), and especially offensively, where the touch close to the basket is already a lot better than Bako’s. Additionally, in Kamagate’s case, there is room to develop a post-up and mid-range game, unlike in Bako’s situation.
As of now, Kamagate is probably already at Bako’s level, but the latter one has surely more experience at the Euroleague level, while the French center needs to prove to be worth this level. The potential is, of course, much bigger than Bako’s one and this is why it is reasonable to assume that, if allowed to make mistakes with the goal of letting him develop his game, Kamagate will be a much better player than the Belgian center throughout his career.
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