Minnesota Timberwolves NBA Draft 2020 Prospect Profile: Killian Hayes

Killian Hayes NBA Draft 2020 Prospect Profile: Weaknesses

Hayes is a solid all-around player. He doesn’t have glaring negatives or concerning holes in his game, such as Ball’s defensive concerns or Edwards’ lack of intensity.

There are, however, things that Hayes must improve on. He’s just turned 19 years old, after all.

The biggest concern with Hayes at this point is the frequency of his defensive lapses. Most of these come away from the ball when Hayes often was caught ball-watching. Far too often, his man would beat him on backdoor cuts or simply catch a pass and breeze past him to the rim.

Hayes is a smart player and has good size, so there’s reason to believe that he can be decent off the ball.

Similar to D’Angelo Russell, Hayes has some limitations in regards to his athleticism, but he mostly held his own in Europe when it came to one-on-one defense. Both Hayes and Russell have enough size and intelligence/awareness that combined with moderate athleticism should make them effective defenders. Unfortunately, it’s the consistent effort that is lacking with both at this point in time.

Hayes’ struggles catching and shooting are also notable, although his pure free throw shooting, solid all-around touch, and ability to shoot off the dribble are all reasons to believe that he’ll improve on the catch.

While Hayes has the strength, size, and touch to score in the paint and finish through contact, his athletic limits could hinder him a bit at the rim and in transition at the NBA level. Also, he heavily favors using his left hand in every circumstance, and opposing teams will gameplan accordingly until he’s able to start going right.

Now, will Hayes fit on the Wolves roster, and should they do what they can to acquire him on draft night?