NBA Draft 2020: Best/worst fits for this year’s consensus lottery picks

Killian Hayes, G, France

Best: Any NBA Team Looking for a Point Guard 

Listen: Any team picking in the lottery that is looking for a pick-and-roll assassin with a burgeoning pull-up game, soft floater touch, improved change-of-direction/pace abilities and legitimately impactful defense should snatch up Killian Hayes if they can.

Detroit would have its franchise cornerstone and floor general, as would New York. The Suns would have a perfect long-term complement to Devin Booker. Boston would have its heir apparent to Kemba Walker and another two-way whiz to play next to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Charlotte, Chicago, San Antonio, Sacramento, and New Orleans should also consider Hayes, despite already having plenty of young guards on their rosters. Hayes is just that good and that valuable of a player.

Worst: Atlanta Hawks 

Selecting Hayes with the sixth overall pick would be both an interesting talent grab by the Hawks and also a very, very gutsy bet on making two ball-dominant guards work together. Hayes’ defense would be a much-needed addition to the Hawks, particularly in the backcourt next to the diminutive Trae Young.

Hayes is a promising point-of-attack defender with his length and strength, an excellent defender stunting and cutting off driving lanes at the nail, and a smart team defender overall. Such a player is seriously needed on a team built around one of the league’s worst defenders.

But the offensive fit is tricky. Young is in the mold of the modern-day, heliocentric star, one who dictates an offense and has a team built around his orchestration. However, Hayes is best utilized as a high pick-and-roll creator, too. Would Young be willing to move off-ball more often than he’s been asked to do thus far, where his potent spot-up shooting could be utilized? And could Hayes clean up his energy transfer issues shooting off the catch to make such a partnership work?

In theory, such a duo would be incredible if the collective buy-in and necessary individual improvements occur, but this pairing likely doesn’t maximize Hayes’ talents as one of the draft’s premier pick-and-roll playmakers, meaning there are better fits for the young Frenchman.