Overview
Mouhamed Faye, a 20-year-old center from Senegal, has spent the past two years as a pro with Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia in Italy. In 2023-24, he was named the Italian Lega A Best Player Under 22 at age 19 when he averaged 8.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks on 65.4 FG% across 37 games (18.2 minutes). This past season, Faye played in 46 games and upped those numbers to 9.1 PPG, 6.8 RPG and 1.5 BLK on 65.2 FG% in 21.0 minutes per.
Analysis
Faye projects as a rim-running big man who excels at finishing lobs, grabbing rebounds on both ends of the floor, making strong cuts and rolls, and defending the paint. He has good hands, a solid handle for his size (6-foot-10) and a soft touch around the rim. On defense, he uses his long arms with great timing and instincts to block and alter shots, while doing a nice job of going straight up and not falling for up-fakes when bodying up. He rarely shoots from outside the restricted area and has never attempted a 3-pointer, but he’s good at making the little plays that benefit his team that might not show up in the box score, like setting screens and hustling to loose balls.
Projection
With all the physical tools at his disposal, Faye has the ability to fill an energizer roll who can also help anchor a defense. Any team in the NBA could use his size and athleticism as a center. He’s shot better than 65% from the field over the last two years, but he’ll have to continue improving his free-throw percentage (56.1% in 2024-25) with more development. Faye’s game shows a lot of similarities to Jarrett Allen (CLE), Dereck Lively II (DAL) and Chris Boucher (TOR) at the next level.
— Profile by RotoWire.com