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2020 NBA Draft Prospect Killian Hayes out of German Tournament Amid COVID-19
May 8, 2020
NBA draft prospect Killian Hayes has reportedly decided against playing in a German Basketball Bundesliga tournament scheduled for June.
According to ESPN's Jonathan Givony, Hayes plans to remain in his hometown of Lakeland, Florida, where he is preparing for the pre-draft process should the NBA receive clearance to hold a combine and individual workouts with 2020 draft prospects during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Bundesliga is preparing a 10-team, 36-game tournament to be held in Munich in June with the goal of finishing its season. Hayes' team, ratiopharm Ulm, will be part of the tourney if it happens.
Givony noted that while the Bundesliga hasn't officially received the go-ahead from the German government and health officials to hold the tournament, it hopes to get that clearance by May 18.
Earlier this week, the German government gave the Bundesliga soccer league the green light to resume its season on May 16.
While the 2020 NBA draft is still scheduled for June 25, the draft lottery and NBA combine scheduled for this month were both postponed. According to Givony, NBA teams are pushing for the league to move the draft to August in order to possibly allow for some of the pre-draft process to take place.
The 18-year-old Hayes is a versatile prospect who was born in Lakeland, Florida, before moving to France as a child.
Despite playing against much older and more experienced players, Hayes averaged 12.8 points, 6.2 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 10 EuroCup games for Ulm this season.
Hayes also won a FIBA U16 European Championship gold medal in 2017 and FIBA Under-17 World Cup silver medal in 2018. He was named the U16 MVP in 2017 and took MVP honors in the Jordan Brand Classic International Game that year as well.
Bleacher Report NBA draft expert Jonathan Wasserman ranked Hayes as the No. 3 overall player in the 2020 NBA draft as part of his latest big board. Wasserman also projected Hayes to go ninth overall to the Washington Wizards in his May 7 mock draft.