By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Two players from Europe were picked in the lottery of the 2020 NBA draft, two more in the first round, and in total nine connected with the old continent were selected by the NBA teams.
French point guard Killian Hayes at no7 by Detroit and Israeli Deni Avdija of Maccabi Tel Aviv at no9 by Washington were the top picks from Europe, while Serb Aleksej Pokusevski of Olympiacos was the 17th selection made for the Oklahoma City Thunder in a trade that sent Ricky Rubio, the 25th pick and the 28th pick to the Timberwolves.
Meanwhile, the Timberwolves traded up to no.23 in order to pick Argentinian guard Leandro Bolmaro of Barcelona who is expected to at least finish the 2020-21 season in Europe.
Hayes, Avdija, and Pokusevski are expected to leave immediately for the NBA with Maccabi getting more than $1 million as a buyout and Olympiacos‘ gain being a bit bigger, a sum around $1,5 million.
The Minnesota Timberwolves selected Anthony Edwards with the first pick of the 2020 NBA draft, the Golden State Warriors took James Wiseman with the No. 2 pick, and guard LaMelo Ball followed as the third pick to the Charlotte Hornets.
Five euros in the second round
French point guard Theo Maledon of ASVEL dropped in the second round at no.34, the Washington Wizards picked injured Czech Vit Krejci of Zaragoza with the No. 37 pick, the Chicago Bulls got Montenegrin Marko Simonovic at No. 44 from Mega Bemax, the Boston Celtics selected Israeli Yam Madar from Hapoel Tel Aviv at no. 47 and at no.48 Golden State picked Italian-American Nico Mannion from Arizona.
French forward Killian Tillie of Gonzaga who went undrafted is expected to sign a two-way deal with the Memphis Grizzlies.