Bangot Dak NBA Scouting Report – Ersin's NBA Draft Newsletter

At 11.5 points per game on 49.2% shooting, the now-senior Bangot Dak made the move up to the SEC to play for one of the better defenses in the countryin Vanderbilt. He’s spent three years in the Big 12 and ended up as one of the conference’s better perimeter-oriented forwards, while being more of a traditional interior presence on the defensive side of the ball.
He’s been growing his perimeter game throughout the years, as the raw athleticism from a few years ago has led to him being a multi-positional weapon who’ll add tons of value on both ends. The fun part about Dak is that he’s not easy to put in a box. The context here is vital and understanding his game will lead to determining what’s the most feasible NBA role he can grow into. That’s the emphasis of this scouting report.
At 6’11”, the Lincoln-NE-based is a great athlete with tremendous vertical pop, foot speed, while the lateral pace is a bit behind. The footwork has rapidly improved over the last few years while he’s using his length very well to play his traditional shot-blocker’s game. There’s no official listing, but he should measure out with a wingspan of at least +5 inches.
Furthermore, Dak has fluid hips and a decent core. However, at only 210 pounds, he lacks the physicality needed to play as a full-time five. He’s a perimeter-oriented player for that reason who’s athleticism, footwork and verticality adds another big body to the defense. That’s the college role, in the NBA the context is different and that’ll not work too much in his favor as teams will have to pair him with physicality. However, exceptions are always there, and the physical profile shows tons of promise in terms of how much he can still grow as an athlete while continuing to add to his frame.
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The feel for the game will bring Dak far in his career after college. He has a good feel for rotations. He’s on the slow side laterally but the long strides look solid. The first possession has him take the switch on the pick-and-roll and immediately recognize the non-taken rotation to the play-finishing five. He got there quick for the situation he was in so biting on the pump-fake felt like a acceptable mistake. However, the lack of lateral pace hurt him in the second possession, he took long strides to get to his spot in transition before he got positioned on the outside in the post-up. The opposing team immediately tried to bank on that but Dak intercepted for the pick-six instead. The fluidity of hips are there but he moved them a bit too slow in the third play. He closed the angle in the middle well but was late to turn after the driver kicked it out to the cutter in the middle who flushed it home.
The reads are the vital part here and that part is solid, which was a must because of how thin Dak is to play as a five in the league. Regardless, I like him as a team defender and it’s no question he’ll become a above-average one later in his career. After hedging in the fourth possession, the rotation should have been toward the cutter from the weak side instead of back to his own assignment to whom his teammate already ‘hedged’. He’s consistent in rotating fast but executing his reads is not always perfect—which is understandable for a college prospect. However, the composure makes up for a ton here with the fifth play showing a good example of him as his natural roe as a rim protector, which led to 1.6 blocks in 25.7 minutes per game; which will continue in his senior year at Vanderbilt
Biting on pump-fakes is the first thing to fix if Dak wants to play consistent minutes in the NBA. He’s so long and the vertical pop is tremendous that he can afford to allow smaller assignments to try and shoot over him. Because he’s a floor-spacing forward, the closeout defense has to be top-notch. Dak is a piece with whom teams can hedge if opponents want to play four, or even five-out. He’ll cover the perimeter while being the interior defender as well. The first possession has Dak close out like his life depends on it which naturally leads to the closeout scorer faking him. Considering how wide-open he was it’s understandable and Dak filled in the possesssion very fast too. Regardless, there’s another habit in his profile that he needs to fix. The second possession has the ball handler seeing he can’t get downhill so he settled for the midrange jumper to which Dak leaned back a bit and allowed the shooting angle while not boxing out properly as the rebound fell toward him by chance.
In Mark Byington’s defense he’ll have to close out a ton more so the positioning and not being afraid of physicality and getting lured to fouls should be the main area of focus. He’s looking to play safe and at 1.9 personal fouls per game, the third play shows why he’s defending ‘too safe’ at times. Overall the length and the fluid hips will cover up a ton of space and that’s more overshadowing his deficincies and allowing him to get away with it. Because of how good his potential is to become a plus-defender in the NBA, the more vital it gets this improves because it’ll really set him apart compared to his peers.
This is a vital part of the evaluation. At 210 pounds it’s easy to see that Dak will struggle against more physical, bruizing forwards in college. Those get more love from the NBA nowadays too so how he holds his own in the post is important to determine how feasible the path to stay afloat against NBA physicality will be. The first play shows Dak being showed out of the way in the post for the post scorer’s clean scoring angle with two feet in the paint. That’s the worrying part in his profile as Dak needs to bulk up and fill his frame. However, against players of his own posture he’s looking like the dominant force. He’s a pick-pocket in those situations, almost using his great length to poke the ball away but how he pivotted his left on the post scorer setting his feet closed that angle very well before he dominantly blocked the shot. The bad part is that in the NBA he’ll likely be not much in that situation.
The third play had him not bite against the fake which is an advantage. The way I see it is that NBA teams will try to find and hunt switches against him and go full physical. Experienced scorers will hunt and find contact so that’s the challenge I see in Dak’s profile. Filling his frame and adding strength is a small part of it; as of now it’s a feel thing and on that end, Dak’s getting a good B+ to pass class. He’s fluid and looks super-confident despite being overpowered in some occassions, the fourth play shows another example.
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At 63.9% at the rim and 8 missed dunks on the season, there are some issues surrounding Dak’s touch. The biggest reason for this is how he’s struggling to stay in balance when he’s facing physicality in the paint. That’s the non-avoidable part for now. However, I like how Dak’s screening and fluidity helps him to find constant opportunities to be the play-finisher, as the floor-spacing element and gravity on that end helps as well. Defenders are forced to make a decision to focus on Dak potentially popping after the screen or rolling, and that’s the role versatility that’ll suit him well on the offensive end.
But the first play shows a big reason why he’s not efficient enough for a five. He’s against two defenders and had zero intention to kick the ball out or fake them and pass it to the open man. That’s a red flag in his profile that he needs to fix during his senior campaign. Second play makes it more worrying; good screen and the short-roll pass to the corner was clearly there and he didn’t go for it and got hacked. The 73.6% from the line is solid, but the tunnel-vision does worry me to see him play consistent minutes in the NBA. One of the elements that could make him a nightmare in the short-roll is to master a good floater, with the fourth play showing an example of how he needs one.
Shooting from all positions; the NBA of today. He’s at under 30% for three seasons in a row, but I don’t care about that at all. For now he should be more of a shooting threat than someone who’ll shoot with volume. It makes no sense that fives have shooting as their primary threat; as they should be in the paint! The same applies to Dak; his screen-and-dive or roll game is too valuable to focus on being a full-time shooter because he’s not fluid like a wing or a guard anyway. Shooting-heavy fives will always have less value in my opinion because they only account for the offensive rating. For Dak’s case the shooting helps to hedge the defensive lapses and add more shooting to the floor; that’s his NBA role.
The positive is that Dak doesn’t waste time at all. He’s immediately taking his shots and he’s rising up very fluidly after the catch while catching the ball at a high point too, with the first two plays showing good examples. The high-arcing shot is another positive as it’s basically unblockable as he’s also very vocal on the third play as he’s sitting in the corner. Looking at the quality of his jumper it’s enough for me to accept the below-average numbers. If he’s a neutral shooter in the NBA it’s more than enough for his role, and that looks like a feasible floor for him.
Translating his shooting gravity should lead to Dak making plays out of closeouts. He’s fluid and takes long strides to the rim. Yes, he’s not physical and the lateral pace is decent but overall he’s a threat to score on each level because of how easily he rises up for his floater or jumper while the length making him basically unblockable. The floater is the money-maker for Dak. If he masters a reliable one he’ll be a tremendous scoring and (!) passing threat in the league.
The first play shows a smooth pump-fake before leaning right and passing by his assignment for the soft-touch layup against another opponent. The second play is where he’s struggling against physicality and forcing his way into the paint. He’s bailed out by the foul call as generally he’ll continue to struggle in the NBA if he doesn’t have a clear driving lane toward the rim to exploit—like in the first play. It’s a mix of both worlds and that’s why that floater is so important. The third play shows how much it’s off as of now but how much of a threat it is to have a close-to seven-footer rise up so fluidly with that length. Even NBA athletes will have no answer to that. If Dak wants the best chance to stick in the league; that floater is a must.
Born in March 2005, the 5-in-5 ruling makes it possible for Dak to return for his fifth year. I expect that to happen for him as he should maximize his college earnings rather than betting on the NBA. Physically he’s not ready in terms of strength so adding to his 210 pounds in the next two years is key whereas the defensive instincts, read and feel for the game are already solid. He’ll carve out a role because he’s fluid, athletic and has a clear positive value on the defensive side while providing the much-wanted floor-spacing as well.
Role versatility is everything in the NBA and teams get a five on defense who can play as a three/four on offense. There are areas to work on with the biting on pump-fakes and tunnel vision on the offensive end being the most important ones, but that counts for everyone. Overall, I expect Bangot Dak to be one of the first players taken in undrafted free agency. I don’t see a path for him to get drafted because he’ll likely still be physically not ready to play NBA basketball. Nowadays that matters a lot.
However, the feel and skill is too good to not get a chance. Going undrafted in 2028 and signing a two-way deal is the way for Dak to fight to stick in the NBA before being a quality pro outside the United States.
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