Who were the best long-term NBA draft prospects at the FIBA under-16 European Championship over the weekend?
Here are four standouts, including a rising French guard racking up MVP awards and plenty of buzz for the 2020 NBA draft.
Hayes' stock growing with MVP summer
PODGORICA, Montenegro -- Explosive 6-foot-5 guard Killian Hayes led France to a U16 European Championship Division A title (7-0) on Sunday, earning MVP honors to cap off a tremendous summer for the French-American prospect.
Over the course of seven games in Podgorica, Hayes torched opponents for 22.8 points, 9.6 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 3.7 steals per 40 minutes, leading France in every major statistical category. Although he's been a known commodity in France for some time, Hayes is quickly making a name for himself on a more global scale, emerging as a legitimate long-term NBA prospect.
Over the past four months, the 16-year-old -- who was born to an American father and French mother -- has taken home three MVP awards: the Jordan Brand International Game MVP in April, the France under-18 league MVP (and championship) with Cholet and now the U16 European Championship MVP. Hayes also shined as one of the top prospects at the 2017 Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso, Italy, which earned him an invite to Adidas Nations Training Camp in Los Angeles, where he competed with some of the top American players in his age group.
Hayes' game pops on film and in person, as he's quick and powerful to the rim, shifty with the ball and bouncy in space. He's not an overly skilled shooter or playmaker, but he's tough to keep out of the paint, using advanced combo moves and his physical gifts to put pressure on the rim. Even without a reliable jump shot, Hayes gets to the rim at will and does a great job of finishing through contact, evident by his impressive 68.0 2-point percentage in Montenegro. Hayes can break down a defense without a ball screen and has more than adequate vision on the move; he's at his best in drive-and-dish situations.
While he's a bulldog to the rim on offense, Hayes' best moments often come on the other side of the ball. At 6-foot-5, with a strong frame and a solid 6-foot-8 wingspan, Hayes is a gritty defender who will sit down in a stance, pressure the ball and contain both point guards and shooting guards consistently. He plays with an edge that you don't often see from international guards.
However, the Florida-born, France-raised lead guard is far from a perfect prospect. Hayes has quite a bit of room to improve both as a shooter (25.8 3-point percentage in Montenegro), decision maker and off-hand finisher in the half court. While explosive and physical by European standards, Hayes blended in quite a bit at the Adidas Nations training camp, making the evolution of the rest of his game that much more important.
Hayes does have a great shooting coach at his disposal in his father, DeRon Hayes, a Lakeview, Florida, native and Penn State alum who knocked down more than 260 3s at a 40.8 percent clip during his six-year career with Cholet and Nancy of France Pro A and Eurocup.
Given his father's history at Cholet, Hayes has been in the club's youth system for some time and recently agreed to a three-year deal with the team. Cholet has a long history of developing prospects: It was home to Rudy Gobert, Kevin Seraphin, Nando De Colo and Rodrigue Beaubois over the course of the past decade. Hayes will take a similar path as fellow French guard and mentor Frank Ntilikina, practicing with the men's team on a regular basis and playing in the French under-21 league, where he appeared in 10 games this last season as a 15-year-old.
With a sound infrastructure in Cholet, the guidance of his father and Hayes' strong mentality, it's hard to envision the 16-year-old guard failing to maximize his long-term potential. Over the past four months, Hayes has stood out in evaluation settings all over the globe -- in New York, Los Angeles, Italy and Montenegro -- putting together as impressive of a summer as any other 2001-born prospect, making his a name to remember when the 2020 NBA draft rolls around.
More top 2001-born prospects to watch
Nikos Rogkavopoulos | Greece
Player type: 6-foot-8 versatile wing
Born in a small village near Athens, Rogkavopoulos spent the first eight years of his development with ASE Doukas and recently agreed to a four-year contract with AEK Athens. Rogkavopoulos burst onto the scene in 2016 at Adidas Eurocamp and parlayed that performance into a 2017 Jordan Brand International Game appearance in Brooklyn, New York. He's expected to develop with AEK Athens over the next few years until he's draft eligible in 2020.
Quick scout: Arguably the top prospect in a B Division that Greece ran through with an undefeated record, Rogkavopoulos is extremely fluid in the open floor with a well-rounded skill set, sharp instincts and high motor. Although light and short-armed, he plays with energy, confidence and pizzazz. Aggressive in transition, Rogkavopoulos is a solid athlete who loves to leak out or grab rebounds and push himself. He has excellent vision in the open floor, mixing in a variety of flashy, accurate feeds. There aren't many boxes that Rogkavopoulos doesn't check.
He's a fairly reliable spot-up shooter who is also comfortable playing with the ball in space. He rebounds for his position, creates for others and makes enough plays off the ball defensively to help make up for his less than stellar frame. Rogkavopoulos can be a bit streaky as a shooter and isn't the most explosive athlete from an NBA perspective, but he's made great strides since we last saw him at Jordan Brand and is without a doubt one of the top young prospects in all of Greece.
Standout stats: He led the B Division in points per 40 minutes (27.91) and win shares per 40 minutes, and finished second in player efficiency rating.
Deny Avdija | Israel
Player type: 6-foot-7 point forward
Avdija is the son of former Yugoslavian national team standout Zufer Avdija. Zufer is a former FIBA World Championship bronze medalist who starred for then-Yugoslavian League club Crvena Zvezda as team captain before finally settling down in Israel, where he played for eight years. Of Serbian and Israeli descent, Avdija has been developing in the Maccabi Tel Aviv system, where he's expected to play in the under-18 league next year and remain for the foreseeable future.
Quick scout: One of the most unique players in his age group, Avdija can play up to four positions on the offensive end, running point with tremendous vision, scoring on the block versus mismatches or shooting off the catch as a wing, sometimes even sprinting off of screens. Standing close to 6-foot-7, he isn't overly explosive, and Avdija will likely be best defending 3s or 4s long-term. But his ability to play out of a ball screen, spot shoot with deep range and score on the interior makes him nearly unguardable at the under-16 level.
Avdija's sharp basketball instincts are his best attribute, as they show up when he's passing, rebounding and defending. Although he's not a sit-down-in-a-stance type of defender, Avdija gravitates toward the ball both defensively and on the glass, and has tremendously strong hands in traffic. Since he played point guard all his life until a big growth spurt, it will be interesting to see what Avdija looks like in a few years, as he's likely not done growing.
Standout stats: Only two other players since 2000 have ever averaged at least 15 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists per 40 minutes at this event: Ricky Rubio and Tomas Satoransky.
Tristan Enaruna | Netherlands
Player type: 6-foot-8 two-way wing
Son of a Dutch mother and Nigerian father, Enaruna is the top NBA prospect in all of Holland. Having only played basketball seriously these past few years, Enaruna made his debut to most NBA scouts at the 2017 Adidas Eurocamp, in Treviso, Italy. He's been developing in the Canarias Basketball Academy in Amsterdam.
Quick scout: Enaruna is the most physically intriguing wing prospect to play in the B Division, at 6-foot-8 with a 6-foot-11 wingspan, big hands, a tremendous frame and impressive athleticism. Fluid in the open floor and explosive off of two feet, Enaruna pops off the hardwood and shows enough flashes offensively to project him as a legitimate NBA prospect long term. His feel for the game, shooting consistency and decision making, however, have quite a bit of room for improvement.
Netherlands isn't traditionally a high-level basketball country, and Enaruna hadn't played against a ton of elite competition until the past couple of years. Learning how to play a more efficient brand of basketball (39.2 percent from 2 and 22.6 percent from 3 in Sofia) will be important for Enaruna, but at age 16, he has all the tools scouts look for in a young wing prospect. If he continues to improve his skill level and feel, and become more aggressive in his approach, Enaruna has a chance to eventually be the first Dutch NBA player since Dan Gadzuric in 2002.
Standout stats: He has 7.9 free throw attempts per 40 minutes.