I'll be totally honest, I was sleeping on Hugo Besson all last season. Now I am awake and will be driving the Hugo Besson bandwagon all season, matter of fact as of today he is my new favorite prospect in the 2022 draft class

 

I understand why 3 & D prospects are so valuable in today’s NBA, but they’re boring to watch from a scouting perspective. Besson is far from boring and is the total opposite because he gets buckets… and buckets in bunches. If you love players with offensive creativity and a little bit of flash then you’ll love the flashy shot maker from France. Besson is on his way to New Zealand to play with another top French prospect in Ousmane Dieng in the NBL’s next stars program during the 2021-22 season.

 

Besson lead France’s second division in scoring last season and showcased the ability to score on 3 levels while averaging 19 ppg on an efficient 48% shooting. He’s a sneaky good athlete with a nice floater package and was one of the best finishers in France’s Pro B division, converting  67% of his attempts at the rim.

 

Besson scored in a variety of ways and in my opinion, he’s most dangerous with the ball in his hands as a pull up shooter. I truly believe we’re starting to see how guys like Dame Lillard, Kyrie Irving and Steph Curry changed the game and made the pull up 3 off the dribble a big part of their scoring arsenal. 10 years ago 3 point shot creators off the bounce were rare, Besson is part of the new wave of scoresr that are dangerous creating their own shots from deep off the dribble.

 

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Hugo Besson is coming off a strong season where he was voted as the best young player, all star starter and won the scoring title in France's respected Pro B division.  He did the majority of his work (34%  his possessions) out of pick & roll where he picked defenses apart and averaged a little under 1 point per possession. He made a shade under 45% of his shots out of ball screens with an adjusted FG% of 50.4%

 

But he was more than just a scorer out of pick & roll. He demonstrated good passing instincts and enough playmaking skills to to make defenses pay for trapping him. There were a few possessions where he made impressive live dribble passes out of traps. 

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Last season Besson connected on 36.5% of his attempts from deep and was ranked 10th in the league in 3 pointers made. He more than likely would’ve have finished in the top 3 or even challenged for the league lead in made 3s, but he only played in 26 of the 34 games. 

 

What’s more impressive about these numbers is the degree of difficult in his attempts. He’s not just standing in the corner knocking down open looks, Besson is shooting pull up  3’s off the dribble and drilling 3’s coming off pin downs and off the ball motion plays. His versatility as a shooter will allow him to play both guard spots and play along side any style of guard.

 

While I think he projects to play both guards spots I do think he can be a point guard in the NBA.  He didn’t have a great assist to turnover ratio, but he has good court vision and a good feel as a passer. 

 

As far of areas of improvement, I’d like to see him get his assist to turnover ratio up and around 2 to 1… Like most guys who are uber confident and wired to score, he has a tendency to take tough contested shots, sometimes early in the possession.. But that’s part of the territory when you’re a gifted scorer like Hugo Besson.

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Rafael Barlowe - August 30, 2021