NBA’s French Revolution ; Killian Hayes & Theo Maledon to lead French ‘Golden Generation’ in 2020 NBA Draft
Four-time NBA champion and six-time All-Star Tony Parker is the best baller to ever come out of France.
Not far behind Tony P is 2013-14 DPOY Joakim Noah, Rudy Gobert, Boris Diaw, Nicolas Batum and Evan Fournier.
The Les Bleus national team have been hyped up for years and have shown us they have the ability to compete, winning silver at Eurobasket 2011 and following it up with a gold in 2013.
France won bronze at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, and even beat Team USA in the 2019 edition only to fall short against Argentina in the semifinals, finishing up with bronze.
The future is bright for France who are in the midst of a ‘Golden Generation’, and the production line of talent into the NBA looks set to continue.
There are no less than eight Frenchman in the league today, including young guns Frank Ntilikina and Sekou Doumbouya who are beginning to find their feet.
Lets take a look at the four Frenchmen to look out for in the 2020 draft, including ‘Tony Parker’s prodigy', the youngest LNB All-Star in history and the youngest player to ever feature in France’s LNB Pro A league.
Theo Maledon
Tony Parker is known as the best player France has ever produced, and Theo Maledon has been set up to take over.
He's been mentored by Parker in his role as president for French basketball team ASVEL Basket and the former Spurs legend has big wraps on Maledon.
“When I see Frank Ntilikina drafted No. 8, Theo is a lot better than him”, said Parker.
“You could see already at 10, 11, that he was just better than everybody else and really talented."
"The goal is to start him next year [for ASVEL] and for him to be the best player and the most NBA ready just like Luka Doncic.”, Parker continued.
Maledon is projected to be selected as a lottery-pick to mid-first rounder, but there are questions about his tentative shot selection and lack of explosiveness which could be exposed in the NBA.
He has however been leaning the ropes professionally since 16-years old and is loaded with talent and considerable upside.
Maledon also became the youngest LNB All-Star in history at just 17-years of age.
What he lacks in athleticism he more than makes up for with his basketball IQ and passing vision, an unselfish trait sure to appeal to many teams.
Defensively he has elite upside for a point guard with 6’5″ height and a 6’9″ wingspan, the perfect prototype to add size to and the length to be extremely disruptive.
Killian Hayes
Hayes progressed through the Cholet Youth Academy in a system where the likes of Rudy Gobert and Kevin Séraphin graduated.
He has the distinction of being the youngest professional to ever play in France’s LNB Pro A league at the age of sixteen.
Hayes is the son of former American Basketball Association (ABA) player DeRon Hayes who also played professionally in Portugal, Sweden, Ukraine, Russia and France.
Killian is American born but raised in France: "I feel like I'm from both places. I try to bring the best of America and the best of France with me when I'm on the court.", he has said.
"I wanted to play high school basketball in America. I wanted to play in the NCAA...I wanted to be an All-American; that was my dream. But my dad said the best option was for me to stay [in France] and play pro”.
His tight handles, playmaking ability, and exceptional passing skills will translate immediately into a contributor.
Limiting Hayes is his left only handedness in a league where ambidexterity is becoming fundamentally important.
For a point guard though, Hayes also has extraordinary height like Maledon, 6 ft 5 in (1.96m).
Limiting him is his lack of athleticism. He is projected to be a lottery-pick to mid-first rounder in the 2020 draft.
Malcolm Cazalon
Cazalon showed off his true potential at the 2018 FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup where he averaged 16.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game, helping France to a silver medal.
During the competition Cazalon teamed up with Maledon and Hayes in a trio dubbed the 'Three Musketeers'.
He has been playing professionally across Europe in France, Belgium and Serbia, where he has showed off his pure athleticism, rebounding and straight up hustle.
His explosiveness and high-ceiling is appealing for NBA teams and he would be able to immediately line up as a solid role player.
Cazalon currently plays with Mega Bemax in the Basketball League of Serbia and is predicted as a late first round to early second rounder.
Killian Tillie
Tillie enters the draft following a successful college career at Gonzaga.
He is a stretch-four with a silky smooth release. He has the height to shoot over the defense and is deadly accurate from downtown.
He's also got a soft touch around the rim and works hard on the glass.
Tillie is solid enough of an athlete but needs to get better on the defensive end and to stay healthy.
He was extremely liked by all fans during his time at Gonzaga.
"He was always fiery, explosive and never, ever held back...when he plays basketball he just goes for it", said head coach Mark Few.
Working against Tillie is the fact he will be 22 years old at draft time and he may be seen as too far along into his development by teams.
He also has a history of injuries which may limit his appeal and alongside his lack of athleticism makes him a likely late second round pick.
For any team willing to take a chance on him and his silky skills for a man his size, his exceptional shooting for a center as well as his basketball IQ could make him one of the best value picks of the draft.
The future is bright
France set the record of most draftees by a non-US country in 2016 with five, only to be recently beaten by Canada in the 2019 NBA Draft with six.
It looks like France are about to add another four to the NBA to add to the eight currently in the league.
Beyond the 2020 draft the French pipeline of talent looks set to continues.
Yoan Makoundou is a name to look out for. Like Hayes, Gobert and Séraphin, the power forward is a product of the famed Cholet Youth Academy and currently plays for the senior team.
There's also Maxime Carene who's currently playing in France’s LNB Pro A league U21 league for Limoges.
The future is bright for the Les Blues.
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My passion for sports led me to create Wolfgang Sports in 2017 as a way to connect American & British sports culture. My writing is driven by a fascination for sports culture focusing on popular culture, rookie players, data analytics and sports card collecting.