Nolan Traoré (born 28 May 2006) is a French professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He was selected by the Nets with the 19th overall pick in the

2025 NBA draft The 2025 NBA draft was the 79th edition of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual draft. Like the 2024 draft, this draft took place over two nights. The draft consisted of 59 picks as opposed to the full 60 due to the New York Knick ...

Early life

Traoré was born on 28 May 2006 and grew up in the

French commune A () is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in Canada and the United States; ' in Germany; ' in Italy; ' in Spain; or civil parishes in the Uni ...

Chennevières-sur-Marne Chennevières-sur-Marne (, literally ''Chennevières on Marne'') is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. History People have lived on the site of Chennevières-sur-Marne since pre-hi ...

. He is the younger brother of basketball player

Armel Traoré Armel Traoré (born January 23, 2003) is a French professional basketball player for Bàsquet Manresa of the Liga ACB. He was previously on a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA, and the South Bay Lakers of the NBA G League. ...

. He began playing basketball at age four with the club COC Chennevières and played with them from 2010 to 2014. He then spent three years with , being a member of the U9, U10 and U11 teams there. Traoré joined the club in 2017. While at Saint-Charles Charenton, he also played for the Pôle Espoirs Île-de-France from 2019 to 2021; he played at the French junior championships in 2020–21 and averaged over 16 points per game. Traoré received his ''

baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

'' in 2023, one year early.

Professional career

Centre Fédéral (2021–2024)

Traoré was admitted to the training institute

INSEP INSEP, the National Institute of Sport, Expertise, and Performance (Institut national du sport, de l'expertise et de la performance), is a French sport boarding school, training institute and center that trains elite athletes. It is located on the ...

in 2021 and began playing for their affiliated team,

Centre Fédéral de Basket-ball Centre Fédéral de Basket-ball (), shortly CFBB, is a French basketball club, based in Paris. The club's squads are filled with players from the training institute INSEP. The first team of the club currently plays in the Nationale Masculine 1, th ...

. Playing in the French third tier,

Nationale Masculine 1 The Nationale Masculine 1, abbreviated as NM1, (English language, English: National Male 1), is the professional sports, professional level French basketball league system, third-tier division of men's club basketball in France. The two top teams ...

, he averaged 2.2 points in 2021–22, 11.2 points in 2022–23, and then 16.8 points in 2023–24. He was their leading player during the 2023–24 season and had a

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of over 30 in several games; he was also named the team's player of the month multiple times. In the 2024 Adidas Next Generation Tournament (ANGT) against

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, he scored a record 45 points while helping INSEP win in overtime. He won an award at the end of the season as the best young player in the league.

Saint-Quentin (2024–2025)

Traoré was signed to

Saint-Quentin Basket-Ball Saint-Quentin Basket-Ball, commonly known as Saint-Quentin BB, is a French basketball club playing in the LNB Pro A (the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France), based in the commune of Saint-Quentin in the department of Aisne. ...

in the French top tier,

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

, at the end of March 2024, and later made his debut against

AS Monaco Basket AS Monaco Basket, commonly referred to as AS Monaco or simply Monaco, is a French-registered Monaco-based professional basketball club. They are a part of the Monaco-based multi-sports club of A.S. Monaco, which was founded in 1924. The club' ...

. Later in the season, he set the all-time league record for most points in a game by a player under 18, with 25. He ended the season with seven games played and 10.3 points per game. Traoré was projected as a lottery pick in

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

's February 2024 mock

. In April 2024, he participated in the

Nike Hoop Summit The Nike Hoop Summit is an international basketball all-star game sponsored by Nike, Inc., Nike, held once a year, which features the USA Basketball Men's Junior Select Team against a World Select Team of international players. The players demons ...

all-star game, being one of the top performers with 18 points and four assists against top-ranked

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

prospects. After the season 2023–24 season, Traoré had offers to play for a number of teams, including many top U.S.

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

programs, but opted to stay in France, announcing his intention to sign a two-year contract with Saint-Quentin on 1 June 2024. On 3 October, Traoré made his European debut and scored 27 points in a Champions League home win against Kolossos Rhodes. It was the most points scored in a Champions League game by a player under age 21, beating the previous record of

Alperen Şengün Alperen Şengün (; born 25 July 2002) is a Turkish professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents the senior Turkish national team. Known for his footwork and playmaking a ...

. On 10 May 2025, Traoré was named the

Basketball Champions League Best Young Player The Basketball Champions League (BCL) Best Young Player in an annual award of the Basketball Champions League. The Basketball Champions League is, along with the EuroCup, one of the two secondary level European-wide professional club basketball l ...

Brooklyn Nets (2025–present)

On June 25, 2025, the

selected Traoré with the 19th overall pick in the

International career

Traoré represented France at the

2022 FIBA U16 European Championship The 2022 FIBA U16 European Championship was the 34th edition of the European basketball championship for national under-16 teams. It was played from 12 to 20 August 2022 in Skopje, North Macedonia. Lithuania men's national under-16 basketball t ...

, averaging 13.6 points. In 2023, he participated at the

FIBA U18 European Championship The FIBA U18 EuroBasket is the new name for the FIBA U18 European Championship, originally known as the FIBA European Championship for Juniors. It is a men's youth basketball competition that was inaugurated with the 1964 edition. It was held bi ...

and averaged 8.6 points.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Traoré, Nolan 2006 births Living people 21st-century French sportsmen Basketball players from Paris Brooklyn Nets draft picks Centre Fédéral de Basket-ball players French men's basketball players Saint-Quentin Basket-Ball players