With the Cleveland Cavaliers likely having a top-five pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, they should have a good chance of landing Killian Hayes, who would project as a key player for their future. Here, we’ll highlight three reasons why Cleveland should draft Hayes.
It’s not clear yet as to when the 2020 NBA Draft will be at this point for the Cleveland Cavaliers and other teams, as the league is on hiatus until further notice given precaution being exercised related to the novel coronavirus, and social distancing.
Whenever the upcoming draft is, though, it is a crucial one for Cavs general manager Koby Altman and company, as Cleveland needs to keep adding young talent.
Granted, the Cavaliers had been playing better since J.B. Bickerstaff took over at head coach, going 5-6 post-All-Star break leading into the NBA’s 2019-20 season suspension.
That being said, teams are often galvanized in the short term after a mid-season head coaching change, and Cleveland is just 19-46 on the year thus far, and it’s uncertain if and how exactly the league would end up resuming its season.
What is clear again, though, is the Cavs are a ways away from contention, and while lottery projections are anything but a certainty, Cleveland is currently projected to have the second overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, according to Tankathon.
With their pick, regardless of when they eventually do, a prospect that could be a cornerstone piece for the Wine and Gold is guard Killian Hayes of Ratiopharm Ulm of Germany’s Basketball Bundesliga.
Here, we’ll detail three reasons why Cleveland should draft Hayes, the first of which is he’d establish himself as their primary playmaker of the future, which is not the type of player Cleveland has on its current roster.
Reason #1 the Cavs should draft Hayes: Playmaking ability
One of the largest problems hanging over the Cavaliers team is their lack of productive ball movement. This is made clearest when looking at the assist numbers of the team.
Looking at the current 2019-2020 season, the team ranks 24th out of 30 teams in total assists. As of now, Cleveland totals 1500 total assists and 23.1 assists per game, as noted by NBA.com. This is an 11.4 percent increase from where they were last year 65 games into the season.
However, with the addition of Darius Garland to the team, along with Collin Sexton becoming more comfortable in the NBA, the team still averaging such low assist numbers is very disappointing, and those two have often had problems getting pieces such as Kevin Love the ball via entry passes and elbow looks. As a result of this, it could be necessary for the team to draft a player that is a much more natural playmaker, and that’s where Hayes comes to mind.
He has made a major jump in his most recent season in international play, and has displayed that in both the G-BBL and in the Eurocup. In 10 games of Eurocup play, Hayes averaged 6.2 assists per game, and had 5.25 per outing in 20 games in the G-BBL this season, per Real GM.
Hayes has not shown the scoring capability of the likes of Sexton, and his three-point shooting hit rate of 21.8 percent in G-BBL play this season has been underwhelming, but he is a good driver, and he has much better feel than that any of Cleveland’s young guards in terms of pick-and-roll passing.
Plus, at 6-foot-5, his size would be a big upgrade over time over Garland, who is only 6-foot-1 and is more of a natural score-first player, and Hayes’ playmaking could be a crucial factor into the Cavs becoming a postseason contender in coming years in the Eastern Conference.
Lack of playmaking is their largest weakness, as though Garland has led the squad with 3.9 assists per game this season, that’s hardly a considerable amount of helpers to lead a team, and he continually forces too many lobs and has not fit alongside Sexton well at all.
Along with that, Garland playing only five games in college at Vanderbilt due to a meniscus tear didn’t help his cause. Meanwhile, Hayes, a lefty with good feel getting the ball to a variety of players, has already shown his playmaking ability in a high quality professional league. That playmaking feel indicates he is much more of a safe bet to have this skill carry over to the NBA than Garland had coming into the Association, though Garland’s shooting skill is still a key bright spot.
Anyhow, that professional exposure leads me into the second reason Cleveland should draft Hayes, who will turn 19 this summer.
Reason #2 to draft Hayes: His professional experience
Killian Hayes has impressively played professionally in a slew of professional basketball leagues overseas since he was only sixteen years old. In his three seasons playing overseas, of which before he was with Espoirs Cholet/Cholet Basket in France’s LNB Espoirs/the Jeep Elite League, his game has vastly improved every year he has played.
More from King James Gospel
- 3 possible starting lineups for Cleveland Cavaliers in 2023-24
- The Cavaliers may have snagged a hidden gem in Craig Porter Jr.
- 4 players the Cavaliers should pursue in 2024 free agency
- 6 players Cavaliers might replace Jarrett Allen with by the trade deadline
- This stat is one to keep an eye on for Cavaliers’ Max Strus in years ahead
In his first stint in the pros in the Jeep Elite League, he only averaged 2.2 points and 1.2 assists per game. Now, in his third year as a pro, now with Ratiopharm Ulm in Eurocup play, he had averaged 12.8 points, 6.2 assists, and 1.5 steals per game, according to Real GM.
This is similar to the competition that current NBA superstar Luca Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks faced before he ended up in the pros. Both players even started playing at sixteen.
It is a stretch to seriously think that the next Luka Doncic could make his way to the Cleveland Cavaliers, however, the thought of Cleveland drafting a player high in the lottery straight from European play should not be completely shut down.
On top of this, the core pieces that make up Cleveland’s roster are some of the youngest in the league.
As a result of this, Cleveland could become one of if not the youngest team in the NBA once the team hopefully moves on from its current veterans. Plus, for instance, the expiring Tristan Thompson is reportedly likely to be playing elsewhere next season, and Kevin Love should eventually be dealt so the Cavs can fully lean into a rebuild really centered on the growth of young players.
Additionally, on a team like this, young leadership and maturity in the locker room will be crucial for the them to succeed.
With Hayes already spending three years in the pros surrounded by grown men and seasoned veterans, he would make for an amazing leader to bring the Cavaliers into the next stage of their rebuild, going from one of the worst teams in the league to one or two players away from being a contender.
The third reason why the Cavaliers should select Hayes if he’s available at their pick in the 2020 NBA Draft relates to a world of potential fire power for a young backcourt.
Reason #3 to draft Hayes: Young backcourt fire power
A problem that would arise from drafting Killian Hayes would be that either his growth or the growth of another young promising Cavaliers player would be stunted if he were to be drafted by Cleveland.
If the team were to play him at the point guard position, it would force either he or Garland to the bench, but on the defensive end, though he’s far from a great on-ball defender, he’s decent there off-ball and would likely get through screens much better than Garland on-ball. Albeit If he plays shooting guard, he will likely sit the bench behind Collin Sexton.
Lastly, it would be unlikely to play the 6-foot-5 Hayes, who would be another player that needs the ball in his hands the vast majority of the time to make plays, at small forward, and obviously, that would greatly reduce the minutes of both Cedi Osman and Kevin Porter Jr.
Also, that’d stunt the growth of feasibly Dylan Windler, too, assuming Windler can get his bearings after some way into the season, as he is likely to miss all of his rookie season (even factoring in the hiatus) due to a stress reaction in his left leg.
On the other hand, it is possible that one of Garland, Sexton, or Hayes embrace a bench role and it creates one of the deepest young backcourts in the league. Looking around the league, if all three players reach near their full potential, which would come from all three over time getting enough burn to develop, it is hard to find another team with a three-guard rotation that can compete with the backcourt the Cavaliers could eventually have on their hands.
Also, if an agreement can not be reached between any of the players, Garland or Sexton could potentially be traded for a young big (with salary to match) that is more on the timeline of Cleveland, unlike Love, Thompson, or Andre Drummond (who is 26 and has a $28.8 million player option for next season, for reference).
That being said, from what they have shown up to this point in their early careers and Hayes’ cooperation with his teams in French/German leagues when it comes to playing time, it is much more likely that Killian would mesh well with the team.
In that more likely scenario, the Cavaliers would have a roster packed with potential that they can continue to grow and develop and their young backcourt fire power would make for a ton of promise in having a variety of players that can handle it and be viable on-ball threats off-the-bounce.