Chicago Bulls: 3 early options for the fourth pick in the draft

3. Bulls draft options: Killian Hayes, Point Guard

One of the very early 2020 NBA Mock Drafts after the reveal of the lottery (from Ricky O’Donnell of SB Nation) had the Bulls picking the 6-foot-4 and 215 pound French ratiopharm ULM point guard Killian Hayes. There’s a lot of appealing points to what Hayes brings to the table, but the positional need might not be there for the Bulls.

The presence of White is definitely going to clash with Hayes, unless recently hired executive vice president of basketball operations and new lead voice in the front office Arturas Karnisovas could configure a way to make this work. Hayes and White have similar positives to their games, including just that raw playmaking ability with the ball in their hands.

The 19-year-old Hayes played in 10 games during the 2019-20 season in the EuroCup. He averaged 12.8 points per game, 2.3 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.2 blocks. Hayes shot 45.5 percent from the field, 39.0 percent from beyond the arc, and 90.9 percent from the free-throw line.

The real potential that Hayes could have to be a 50/40/90 type of guard in the NBA makes him a very interesting prospect for the Bulls. That is a really difficult point of appeal to ignore, which makes his candidacy a viable one in the Windy City. His inconsistent defending, occasional lack of explosiveness, and tendency to turn the ball over last season frequently (3.3 turnovers per game) were definitive negatives in his game.