It is that time of the year again.
The NBA Draft is still a few weeks away, giving plenty of opportunity for draft stocks to rise and fall, even long after prospects have finished their respective seasons. The draft stock of some prospects do not require a lot of marketing, while others have to work harder to convince a team to take a chance and buy their stock, so to speak.
That takes us to today’s prospect: 18-year-old Adam Atamna. A French guard standing at approximately 6-feet-5 inches tall, Atamna is
likely to be one of the younger prospects in this draft and doesn’t turn 19 until early December.
Atamna boasts what many young players cannot: he featured in 17 Euroleague games for ASVEL Villeurbanne. Many young prospects who find themselves on Euroleague teams see either very limited or no game time given the lack of patience teams have for young players in such a high stakes competition. Atamna’s role was limited but existent for ASVEL, possibly due to ASVEL being the worst team in the Euroleague with an 8-30 record, with Atamna averaging 10 minutes per game.
Across 43 games in all competitions Atamna 5.2 points per game on 35.9% shooting on 4.7 field goal attempts, 27.1% from three on 2.7 attempts, 90% from the line on 1.2 attempts, one rebound, and 1.7 assists in 14 minutes per game, per RealGM.
While Euroleague wasn’t the only competition Atamna competed in, it is probably the most representative in which to measure Atamna against the highest professional grade in Europe. Atamna really, really struggled on Europe’s biggest stage, and these drag down his season averages dramatically — as you might expect when you shoot 13.8% on 58 shots, and 5-of-38 from three.
In the domestic French league, Atamna shot a more respectable 44% from the field and 32% from three, but looking at his Euroleague footage arguably gives the best insight into how far Atamna needs to come in order to round-out as a player. Simply put, Atamna is raw, very raw.
Nevertheless, let’s take a look at Adam Atamna as a prospect. If you’re new to one of these scouting reports, we’ll go through three different sections — offense/scoring, playmaking/passing, and defense — and at the end of it all we’ll discuss what draft experts/analysis report on the respective prospect. These are not assessments I read until after I’ve written those three sections mentioned above, for the sake of transparency and forming my own opinion. These can be…pretty long at times, but in today’s case I promise you we won’t be here for too long today.
Let’s take a look at the film of Atamna, who wears number 2.
Defense
Normally I’d start with an offensive compilation and work to defense last, but in Atamna’s case his defense is his best aspect of his game at this early stage in his career.
Atamna can be described as a hard-nosed defender who makes great effort and isn’t afraid of physicality. Additionally, Atamna’s help defense is good, and he’s a willing switch on defense.
Faced with Evan Fournier on the baseline, Atamna’s activity keeps Fournier stuck at the baseline, forcing the pass. Relocating to the corner, Atamna’s defensive activity keeps Fournier in that spot, prompting the pass from Fournier to look elsewhere:
On a switch on the block, Atamna finds himself in an unfavorable position fronting a larger offensive player. When the entry pass over the top arrives, Atamna skies to claim it, securing the steal and drawing the foul on the play:
It’s a good example of the effort that Atamna can demonstrate on defense.
Olympiacos get the same switch later, and Atamna contests the entry pass, and it results in a turnover for the opposition:
As the help defender, Atamna reads the play and on the catch and rotates to get in the airspace of the offensive player, forcing a pass that leads to a turnover:
Helped by a double from a teammate on this occasion on an unfavorable matchup on the block, Atamna’s defensive activity on the ball is still very much demonstrated as he helps force a tough shot from his opponent:
On a mismatch on the block, Atamna stands his ground well physically and does a good job contesting the jumpshot, forcing a miss:
These plays have showcased that Atamna can read and anticipate plays/switches that need to happen defensively, and this helps him produce steals, such as this pass out to the perimeter, leading to a basket in transition:
Quite frankly, a less than inspiring assist in transition but it got the job done, and a good steal to create the scenario in the first place.
Off of a miss, Atamna recognizes the fastbreak unfolding, and hustles to intercept the pass and procure the steal:
One of the things I really enjoyed watching how Atamna would not shy away from contact, absorbing the contact in the lane here:
Atamna’s inexperience and enthusiasm on defense can be his undoing. He does really well to stick with Fournier drive, but bites on a fake and is called for the foul:
On this possession, Atamna shows how versatile he is as a defender who can switch multiple times on a possession, but undoes it all as he commits the foul at the end of the play in the corner:
As mentioned previously, defense is Atamna’s calling card at this stage of his career. Without it, I daresay he wouldn’t see many minutes at all in Euroleague, even fewer than he averaged. But he’s a hard worker, switches, makes good reads for situations unfolding, can procure a steal, and keep up his with man off the dribble. There’s quite a bit to like defensively from Atamna — the majority of it from an effort point of view, and that type of motor is usually the bit you can’t teach. The biting on fakes and fouling jump shooters, that can be taught.
But as for the rest Atamna does? Not so much.
Offense/scoring
Atamna’s defense is where the positive assessment ends. It’s downhill from here — and no more so than Atamna’s offense/scoring. It can be summed up in one word which I will repeat for dramatic effect. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw. Raw.
To expand further, Atamna’s offense wasn’t nearly as challenged in the French domestic league as it was in Euroleague. However, the level of competition of Euroleague highlights how far Atamna has to overcome to become a plus offensive player.
Let’s start with three-point shooting: Atamna is yet to develop consistency with his jumpshot, both on and off the dribble. Here’s a look at a few of his misses and makes, just to get an eye-in.
Coming off of the hand-off, Atamna springs into a made three-pointer off of the dribble:
Using the screen — and some lax, end-of-game defense — Atamna hits an open three-pointer off the dribble:
This time away from the play, Atamna steps into the catch-and-shoot three and converts the opportunity:
Receiving the hand-off, Atamna immediately rises into a three-point attempt but misses on this occasion:
While this next possession is in a late clock situation Atamna is actually able to work himself into a pretty decent opening, but misses wildly on his attempt:
Atamna is gifted a wide open three on this possession but spurns the golden opportunity presented to him:
Moving off the ball to receive the ball from the post, Atamna springs into a three-point attempt, but misses on this occasion:
In a situation at the end of the quarter following a block, Atamna pushes ahead and gets an open shot but shoots a horrific airball on the jumpshot:
Atamna’s release is a little clunky looking, missing the shot as a good fake opens up an open shot:
Everything is tougher in the Euroleague, and Atamna certainly found that out when shooting the ball, both outside the perimeter and inside of it. When it came to shooting inside the perimeter, Atamna lacks elite speed/burst to break down his defender.
Even on a switch on this possession, Atamna cannot break down his defender, and is forced to pass out:
More often than not, however, commitment to a shot selection inside, whether in traffic or difficulty, was often Atamna’s undoing.
On a drive from the wing, Atamna drives into the defense but lacks the finesse to complete the play, and is stuffed by the rim for the miss:
Operating off of a hand-off, Atamna attacks the paint on the drive and ends up out of control as the defense suffocates his attempt near the rim:
Attacking off the dribble, Atamna performs a decent spin move, but it becomes clear that the defense has kept up with his drive, yet Atamna commits to a difficult attempt inside which is missed:
Using a screen this time, Atamna probes before switching gears and driving inside, and ends up out of control once again and commits the turnover:
Atamna needs a lot of work offensively, but mostly just continued game-time in order to refine his offense. There are makings of, perhaps, a decent jump shooter. The lack of burst off the dribble and general lack of athleticism would be massive issues for Atamna’s offensive ceiling, no matter where his future lies.
Passing/playmaking
There is little to say here: Atamna’s passing ability is not to a high-level right now — it’s enough to simply execute and rack up the occasional three/four assists games. Atamna doesn’t operate to a high frequency in pick-and-roll plays, or drive-and-kicks — it’s making the next pass rather than playmaking.
After facing some defensive pressure, Atamna finds a good bounce pass out of the pressure of the screen, which eventually leads to an assist:
Here, Atamna delivers a good pass over the defense for the assist at the rim:
Atamna is in place to intercept an attempted save, and delivers the pass after a fake for the assist on a three:
In transition, Atamna is delivered the ball on the outlet pass, moving the ball along with a touch pass for the assist in transition:
In the pick-and-roll, Atamna delivers a nice pass over the top for the assist at the rim:
Again, a basic passing package from Atamna right now; he’s not going to be asked to direct an offense, I just don’t think he has that in his locker.
In closing…
Adam Atamna is a longer-term prospect. This is not limited to ‘longer-term NBA prospect’ — he’s just a longer-term prospect wherever he ends up. Defensively, Atamna has a good motor, can switch defensively, and some good instincts to anticipates passes (whether for steals or jumping over to help), but his inexperience shows at times, and he can commit some silly fouls.
Offensively, there’s a lot of work for Atamna to do to be efficient and/or productive at the highest level, even in Europe, let alone the NBA. Consistency in three-point shooting is a huge concern in addition to his shot selection inside the arc.
Atamna’s offensive repertoire is not wide and varying and he lacks finesse to finish over defenses. His lack of speed and athleticism means he can get stuck at times on the perimeter and has to look elsewhere; it’s a huge limiting factor in Atamna’s upside at this present moment. In terms of passing, there’s not much to say either — Atamna can make a pass, but it is not a prominent feature of his game.
If you were to give credit to Atamna, it would be for having some impact minutes as a 17-year-old in Euroleague before turning 18 in December 2025, so from that perspective Atamna deserves credit (as well as acknowledgement that his season has been disrupted by injury.
In short, and at 18 years old, Atamna just needs time to continue to develop. Right now, Atamna should not be considered an NBA prospect, and it is perhaps no surprise that neither The Athletic, nor Yahoo Sports have Atamna mocked inside their top 60, while ESPN have Atamna ranked 72nd on their ‘Best Available’ list.
