DETROIT – The Detroit Pistons announced tonight that the club has selected Killian Hayes with the seventh overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Hayes, 6-5, 216, averaged 11.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.4 steals in 25.1 minutes through 20 games while playing for ratiopharm Ulm in Germany’s top league (BBL) a season ago. Hayes shot .497 from the floor and .852 from the free-throw line as he led all players under age 22 in scoring and assists in both the EuroCup league and German BBL this past season.
Prior to playing in Germany, the 19-year-old competed professionally in France for Cholet’s senior team from 2017-19. Hayes posted clips of 6.1 points and 2.7 assists on .435 shooting while suiting up in 43 games for the club. He also won a gold medal with France and was named MVP of the 2017 FIBA Under-16 European Championship (16.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 5.1 apg).
Hayes was born in Lakeland, Fla., before moving to France. His father, DeRon, played collegiately at Penn State and had a lengthy basketball career overseas, mostly in France.
The seventh overall selection marked the Pistons highest pick in the draft since 2010 and tied the franchise’s fourth-highest pick in any draft since 1981.
-pistons.com-
