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2020 NBA Draft Prospect Spotlight: Killian Hayes

Jackson Law / NBA / July 21, 2020

Killian Hayes is another lead guard many are thinking could land in the top 10. He’s not as athletic as other point guards, but is crafty and pretty good at shooting. Will his craftiness be enough to sway a top 10 team on pulling the trigger? Let’s look and see.

Strengths: Handles, Shooting, Defensive IQ

Hayes is another guard in this draft that’s more of a bucket getter than a passer, but Hayes pretty good at scoring. He uses Harden-like step backs that create a ton of separation from defenders to get up a shot. Hayes is quick on his feet and plays defense like he knows what he’s doing. Trust me, there are some horrible defenders in the league, so having a young guy come in willing to put in the work on defense already get’s my stamp of approval. Hayes does have good passing abilities, but hopefully he will improve in that area once he’s in the NBA. He is an all around crafty scorer and could be really fun to watch.

Killian Hayes is a genius pic.twitter.com/5xHbMtuYqN
— Max Carlin (@maxacarlin) July 16, 2020

Killian Hayes creating space on the step-back 3 with the between-the-legs crossover. Change of direction + OTD space creation is really impressive. Good rhythm, 1-2 feet set and lift. 49 eFG% (33-85 FGA) on off-dribble jumpers this season. pic.twitter.com/9s42FuICUw
— Brian Geisinger (@bgeis_bird) July 13, 2020

Killian Hayes pick-and-roll passing: gets the screen flip so he can get back to his left hand — deceptive, clever decision-making to to load up for the pull-up 3PA and instead loft a perfect touch pass to Jerrett on the roll. pic.twitter.com/1AT6hdc36v
— Brian Geisinger (@bgeis_bird) July 12, 2020

Weaknesses: Athleticism, Strength

Hayes’ all around game is fine, but there are just a few aspects that, if there, could make Hayes a top 3 pick. He isn’t as athletic as other guards in this draft, but can still make athletic plays. He’s strong for a guard, but he’ll need to add more if he wants to be effective when driving to the basket. Honestly, I feel like I’m nitpicking here. Both weaknesses will become less so with more playing time or getting on a team that highlights his strengths.

Killian Hayes may be one of the more NBA ready players of this draft. He’s played in a good number of professional games in France, but only a small sample size on what we are judging him before the 2020 Draft. Hayes has shown his effectiveness. on pick and rolls, so going somewhere that has a nice big would be icing on the cake. I think Hayes is possibly good enough right now to be a top 10 pick, but he should 100% go in the lottery. Hayes will be a good player in the NBA and will never have trouble finding a home.