The 19-year-old Sananda Fru is part of the rotation of the German Bundesliga team Braunschweig this season and showed promising approaches. Except for a few DNPs, the Berlin native plays an average of 15min per game at the power forward and center position. Fru added quite valuable offensive off-ball actions to his team in the form of cuts and is considered an energizer at the defensive end with high readiness in all actions (on and off ball), including rebounding. In the following report, his strengths and weaknesses are elaborated and an outlook with final conclusion is noted.
His background
Growing up in Berlin with four siblings who also all play basketball, his single mother brought him to basketball training after it “kind of made sense” due to his size. In the shadow of ALBA Berlin, he gained his first competitive experience in the youth league for DBV Charlottenburg (berlin district) before Braunschweig took notice and he joined the team of NBA player and Owner Dennis Schröder. After being part of the professional squad already last season, he now established himself. At the same time, his enormous upswing confirms his nomination to the U20 national team last summer and his expected participation in the U20 European Championship again this summer.
What makes him stand out?
He has a promising physical profile, a solid build (with room for more definition in his upper body) and a wide wingspan that easily allows him to play as a power forward or spend time in more mobile and smaller lineups at the center position. He moves fluidly and coordinatedly, is light on his feet and able to play in space over the rim, as he has also shown this season with some reckless (putback) dunks. Following up on that, Fru is always on the field with a high energy level that makes him a valuable asset, especially on the defensive end. On the one hand, he undoubtedly holds his own man in the post-up against more powerful bigs, while on the other hand, he usually manages to keep guards in front of him with his light-footedness. He uses his long arms just as well to make shots difficult in closeouts or occasionally blocks shots on defending penetrations.
Where is there still potential?
He’s struggled a bit from three-point range this season (25% 3FG), but his solid free throw percentage (70% FT) coupled with a solid, fluid and quick release give hope. He also gets himself out of game rhythm at times, committing unnecessary fouls. Either when grabbing the hands of opponents on their drives or when falling for opponents’ fakes. It is also noticeable that his offensive positioning is not always ideal. Although he quickly runs fastbreaks, he rarely appears as a trailer, but often places himself behind the three-point line. He also doesn’t move maturely after setting picks, for example, ideally behind the three-point line or on short rolls. However, this should be perfected as he gains experience. One final aspect that somewhat ruins his resistant defensive play in the post-up is regularly allowing spins to the baseline, which are enormously difficult to recover from and can be prevented with improved positional play.
Outlook
There’s no question that the NBA is still too early for Fru. His skills are clearly evident, but are still too rarely applied, which can of course be attributed to his limited playing time, but can also speak for a lack of courage. Ultimately, taking his name out of the 2023 draft is also to be expected.
Without a doubt, however, Frus’ development can be seen from game to game. The only 19-year-old, who already makes a very professional and mature impression, will probably be given a bigger role in the coming season. Whether he will stay in Braunschweig is still open. As mentioned in the interview, he can certainly imagine the step abroad, which can further his personal and also playful development.
Conclusion
He has prototypical physical tools with his solid combination of size, length, strength and agility and proved the ability to defend all five positions in the German 1st division. Once he manages to create offensively himself, there will be no getting around his name. After all, he also has a perfect NBA ambassador at his side in Dennis Schröder.
