2019 NBA Mock Draft: A crazy lottery throws everything into question
player. 170. . C. Texas. Jaxson Hayes. 12
Hayes was one of the biggest risers of anyone during the NCAA season, jumping up from a multi-sport high school athlete who rode the bench on the basketball team to a dominant two-way big man from a powerhouse college program. Texas’ reputation for producing good NBA bigs may help him, but there real questions about his defensive versatility and offensive ceiling. He likely wouldn’t be in consideration in the lottery most years, but this weak draft has propped him up.
In a nice roundup Q&A, The Athletic discussed with Hayes his surprising freshman season:
"“Do you feel you fit well with the NBA? I feel like I would be able to fit in the NBA really well right now just because I can switch one through five. I can run the floor really well. The game is at a really fast pace right now. I mean, if you just watch the Warriors play, they are just going up and down, so I feel like I would be able to do good in the league. What are you working on this summer? I’m working on my offensive game a lot more. I’m working on dribbling the ball up, my shot, expanding my game, expanding my range. Stuff like that. Anything you can take from your football background that really helped you in basketball? Just kind of the physicality of football — I feel like I’m able to take hits and stuff. Do you think it helped that you grew up later? Yeah, I feel like it definitely helped me growing — playing later and being kind of a late bloomer — just because I was a guard when I was younger, so I feel like that helped a lot more.”"
Charlotte needs a modern big man to pair with its young core and Hayes could continue to improve as he dedicates himself professionally to basketball.