2024 WNBA Draft Scouting Report: Leïla Lacan
2024 WNBA Draft Scouting Report: Leïla Lacan
Providing a summary of the French prospect's game
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Talented players from all across the world have been part of the WNBA since its inception. However, these players often seem undervalued on draft night for a variety of reasons, from legitimate concerns about unavailability, to the difficulties in projecting players drafted two or more years younger than their NCAA peers, to lack of familiarity with overseas leagues. However, quality players have been found from international leagues at every stage of the WNBA Draft, and there are even undrafted players who become quality WNBA players like Marine Johannès. As such, it remains important for teams and media members to scout them, and it can be fun even for more casual fans. We have previously covered Australian wing Isobel Borlase and Australian forward Nyadiew Puoch and are back to discuss another exciting young player eligible for the 2024 WNBA Draft, Leïla Lacan from France.
Lacan is a 5-foot-11 combo guard who plays for Angers, a French team that reached the first knockout round of EuroCup Women. She also played for France at EuroBasket Women 2023 and in the latest round of qualifiers for the 2025 tournament, although she was not listed in the squad for the upcoming Olympic Qualifying Tournament in February. Unlike the Australian players covered previously, Angers does not have any current WNBA players, with Julie Wojta, a second-round pick in 2012, and former UCF defensive anchor Masseny Kaba likely being the most familiar to a North American audience. The team has also signed former WNBA point guard Blake Dietrick as an injury replacement for Lacan, who is expected back some time in February.
The book jacket blurb for Lacan’s game is that she is a fast, strong combo guard with excellent passing touch who displays good activity off the ball at both ends of the court. Her speed is most evident when she is operating in the pick-and-roll where she is consistently able to turn the corner and get paint touches because of her quickness and ball-handling ability.
https://www.youtube.com/live/3fet7eF7Se8?si=Fha-SsZlnu7Cm_vN&t=1706
https://www.youtube.com/live/GlrrJP7MwXc?si=pkQCKJVgSR4g3PNw&t=831
Even when her initial burst does not create an advantage, she can use her handle to create open space and make shots.
https://www.youtube.com/live/wbcWfjNs_VI?si=XmtTcfetYFn816lV&t=2563
Lacan is not just looking to score when she gets deep in the paint. She likes to find both shooters spotting up around the perimeter…
https://www.youtube.com/live/VsK7tlcuOIk?si=DL0Smw2trwPiWXo2&t=3752
…and making dump-off passes to post players and cutters.
https://www.youtube.com/live/Tl-iygV_y4U?si=sEtykWQVN70gXXwJ&t=2664
She can get off passes from a variety of angles, allowing her to distribute the ball to teammates even when the defense has collapsed on her and she finds herself in a tight space.
https://www.youtube.com/live/VsK7tlcuOIk?si=jca37iEQcVw9r7Hz&t=5192
Lacan can also make multiple reads on the pick-and-roll. Here, she tries to hit Masseny Kaba on the roll, notices that the defensive coverage has closed off that opportunity, and kicks to her corner, where her teammate pump fakes and hits a one-dribble long two.
https://www.youtube.com/live/Tl-iygV_y4U?si=63i8JDQcYVFFHfGV&t=2263
Similarly, when the post defender shuts off the entry pass here, Lacan switches her attention to the cutter at the high post, assisting a mid-range jumper.
https://www.youtube.com/live/3fet7eF7Se8?si=7V7pbLqmKuF1CvgO&t=2813
While many young ballhandlers tend to be most proficient with the ball in their hands, Lacan also shows good awareness moving around the court. She frequently gets herself open by drifting purposefully around the perimeter, creating passing lanes for her teammates and spot-up opportunities for herself.
https://www.youtube.com/live/Tl-iygV_y4U?si=HlzgAALfqmJS-8sN&t=5971
While her movement shooting generally comes off subtle relocation like that one, this instance of her sprinting off an off-ball screen portends exciting potential as a movement shooter long-term.
https://www.youtube.com/live/wbcWfjNs_VI?si=QrRknmJRODEboH93&t=5738
She is also able to loop all of these abilities together in a dynamic situation. Here, she is guarded by former WNBA point guard Alexis Peterson, turns the corner in pick-and-roll, creating an open baseline pull-up jumper. While she misses the shot, she grabs the rebound and attacks the basket, drawing help. This creates a kickout opportunity which she seizes before relocating to the corner to preserve offensive spacing. Lacan gets the ball back and sinks the corner three.
https://www.youtube.com/live/wbcWfjNs_VI?si=gg2FD8F7hVsQOQqP&t=1582
Unfortunately, while Lacan is adept at generating shots from all three levels of the court, she tends to struggle to convert her attempts. Inside the arc, she only has shot 42.4% from 2-point range in EuroCup Women and the French league over the last two seasons. This is most evident around the basket where even light contests can throw her off. Both Lacan’s strengths and her weaknesses are evident on this play as she gets past mobile, undersized WNBA power forward Myisha Hines-Allen (who is playing center in this line-up) on a switch but fails to convert at the basket.
https://www.youtube.com/live/Tl-iygV_y4U?si=vQHp9QS3eybvn3jx&t=3285
Even if the dwindling shot clock and the help rotation from the guard rush Lacan’s finish, it is still not a particularly close miss and indicative of her overall struggles.
On other occasions, Lacan will opt to pass rather than score with the defense lurking. Again, HInes-Allen is especially short for a rim protector, yet it seems like Lacan starts to think twice about finishing as the Mystics power forward rotates. Lacan appears to change her mind in mid-air and just gets the ball out of her hands despite the lack of an opportunistic passing window.
https://www.youtube.com/live/Tl-iygV_y4U?si=8pW9gqY2bP49AGzx&t=1203
Her jumper also has extremely mixed results, as reflected by her 29.7% 3-point shooting percentage in EuroCup Women and the French league over the past two seasons, pulled down significantly by only shooting 15-for-64 (23.4%) in French league competition this season and with fairly generous draws buoying her EuroCup Women numbers both seasons.
https://www.youtube.com/live/wbcWfjNs_VI?si=PtcMMR6Wa6INLzaH&t=4756
Furthermore, as good of a passer as she is, her 1.52 assist-to-turnover ratio for Angers is solid but not quite where one might hope for someone who may profile best as a full-time point guard at the WNBA level long-term given her skill in the pick-and-roll and struggles as an outside shooter. This represents an area for improvement. For example, she seems to be stripped from behind a fair amount.
https://www.youtube.com/live/VsK7tlcuOIk?si=GsCLShIbzRCLaEtv&t=4152
Here, she may have been able to draw a foul or reset if she had maintained her dribble, but she throws a pass from an exceptionally tight angle to a teammate who is not even in a great attacking position. This may also be a position where her hesitance to try to finish, even over someone like Hines-Allen, may have hindered her once again.
https://www.youtube.com/live/Tl-iygV_y4U?si=H8GnT3ALy60IlkK3&t=4626
This might be a symptom of growing pains from having more on-ball responsibility. Alexis Peterson played for Angers last year and was one of the league’s best point guards while Lacan had a more off-ball role. Lacan’s assist-to-turnover ratio is actually much improved over last year, when it was much closer to 1.
If Lacan can become a skilled scorer from at least one level of the court or run full-time point guard at the WNBA level, her other abilities will make her an outright offensive positive. However, she must be able to command defensive attention in order to leverage her passing and movement skills to help her team.
What might be most impressive about Lacan is the awareness she shows defending off the ball. She is constantly tracking both the ball and her match-up, taking in the entire court. For example, she rarely gets back-cut when guarding players in the corners, something many young players in particular struggle to prevent.
https://www.youtube.com/live/wbcWfjNs_VI?si=yN_TsAgOi9WcqymX&t=1829
Following that cut, Lacan also temporarily switched while off the ball to prevent an easy lay-up before recovering and holding strong against a drive from former WNBA draft pick Angela Salvadores. Ultimately, a dig from Julie Wojta forced a steal for Angers.
Here is another case where Lacan prevents her match-up from getting open on a back cut after first getting around an off-ball screen.
https://www.youtube.com/live/wbcWfjNs_VI?si=OtfrbjbE3yhYVF8x&t=4073
Lacan is also adept at making life more difficult for opponents trying to get the ball on hand-offs and play resets, blowing up actions and eating into the shot clock.
https://www.youtube.com/live/wbcWfjNs_VI?si=OsY4KRwQ1ZIrVOE0&t=4804
On this play, Lacan helping the helper prevents an easy lay-up for the opposing post player, and then she boxes out her much larger opponent effectively.
https://www.youtube.com/live/VsK7tlcuOIk?si=_5CMJMEZMMbq4lC3&t=4117
Even when she gets caught on screens, she can react, figure out how to make some sort of impact, and recover. After being caught a bit on this off-ball screen, she still puts in a solid effort to defend the pass and contest the corner three attempt.
https://www.youtube.com/live/GlrrJP7MwXc?si=hIanxRQMfokUrCzF&t=1223
This play may end in a lay-up after her assignment gets the ball to the short roller, but Lacan certainly helps make her life more difficult, keeping ground and getting into her handle on the aggressive pick-and-roll coverage.
https://www.youtube.com/live/wbcWfjNs_VI?si=WUNatHFhf8Q5uAJY&t=4183
Beyond guarding her primary assignment, her skill defensively extends to helping effectively on drives, cutting off scoring opportunities and creating steals.
https://www.youtube.com/live/wbcWfjNs_VI?si=eO6P7OiWQUwaXQHN&t=4285
She makes herself a presence digging down from the wing, creating steals by putting her hand in opponents’ handles.
https://www.youtube.com/live/VsK7tlcuOIk?si=lj4IZMMWZWhmY-fi&t=4604
This play represents more of a highlight than a regular component of her game but nonetheless shows how Lacan can use her size as an overall defensive presence. After getting back in transition, she stymies two extremely experienced post players with extensive national team experience and no shortage of size or low-post chops: a former WNBA first-round draft pick in center Kayla Alexander and a skilled post player who once scored 30 points against the United States in a World Cup match in power forward Anete Steinberga.
https://www.youtube.com/live/GlrrJP7MwXc?si=DHyCF8fYgGGlUfDw&t=1277
When Angers played against Turkish club Galatasaray in the EuroCup Women group stage, Lacan spent much of the early part of the game assigned to guard former WNBA player Hind Ben Abdelkader rather than starting on WNBA combo guard Tiffany Mitchell, the team’s biggest perimeter scoring threat. Ben Abdelkader is smaller than Lacan and operated more as a shooter, albeit one who always is a threat to pull up off the dribble. While Mitchell is a better player than Ben Abdelkader on aggregate, Lacan is currently better able to leverage her strengths against players who spend more time off the ball. A positive example is this play where Lacan keeps up with Ben Abdelkader as the latter sprints around an off-ball screen.
https://www.youtube.com/live/Tl-iygV_y4U?si=3k5OV5gV9AE4bg4R&t=2503
Lacan has also spent some time guarding point guards, albeit not necessarily as her primary responsibility. In general, Lacan is less impressive guarding on-ball, and relatively snug on-ball screens can give her more trouble…
https://www.youtube.com/live/VsK7tlcuOIk?si=b_a_9li7mHXHNMe4&t=3842
…but Lacan certainly can do a good job containing drives, complementing her overall defensive skillset.
https://www.youtube.com/live/wbcWfjNs_VI?si=LhfT92ycOB4F427J&t=6114
Lacan may not be an out-and-out defensive stopper, but she is an extremely good complementary defender who brings serious value to her team, and she has the size and quickness to defend well against multiple positions.
One factor which cannot be ignored is the fact that Lacan is French. Since the WNBA rolled out its prioritization rules, the French league and the French national federation have had the least accommodating schedule for WNBA players. This was evident last season when Gabby Williams was only able to play in the WNBA season because she happened to suffer a concussion during the French league playoffs, and Marine Johannès was excluded from France’s EuroBasket Women roster because she wanted to spend time with the New York Liberty between the French season ending and the EuroBasket Women tournament beginning. With the prioritization rules becoming even stricter this season, Lacan can only play in three WNBA seasons before all parties involved have to make some big decisions, although future changes to the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) could affect these rules. (Tangentially, Lacan’s spot on France’s 2023 EuroBasket Women team appears to have been the spot that would have otherwise gone to Johannès.)
Between the availability concerns and the fact that Lacan still has some development to go - she needs to become a more effective scorer from at least one level of the court in order to merit serious WNBA minutes. As such, it is difficult to justify drafting Lacan particularly high, with French post player Maïa Hirsch’s No. 12 selection spot in last year’s draft just below the top of her draft range. However, a patient team could be richly rewarded for drafting Lacan in the second round. Physical playmaking guards like Jasmine Thomas and Layshia Clarendon needed several years of development to become efficient WNBA scorers despite entering the league after four years of NCAA experience, and they could serve as the blueprint for Leïla Lacan becoming an extremely effective WNBA player. If Lacan becomes a more efficient shooter off the dribble and consistently makes herself available for the WNBA, she could even match those players’ peaks and become an All-Star.
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A wing who shoots 29.7% from three in a second-tier European league is not likely to have an impact in the WNBA.