2019 NBA Draft: Full Mock Draft 4.0, Atlanta Hawks Trade Down to Pick at 8, 14 & 22, Lakers Trade #4

Though commonly linked to the Atlanta Hawks, the Washington Wizards will look to build towards the future with a raw big man prospect out of Texas: Jaxson Hayes.

Hayes is very young and incredibly raw, but his tantalizing physical gifts and rim-running, shot-blocking big man archetype is still extremely important in today’s NBA. Though Hayes still has plenty to learn in terms of the dark arts of (illegal) screen setting and figuring out more complex reads on defense, there is no question that he knows how to handle a lob.

As previously explored on SDS, Hayes was the best at-rim finisher in the country during the 2018-19 NCAA men’s basketball season – shooting an amazingly high 85.4 percent at the rim on 123 attempts, which was Top 15 in the Big 12 conference.

With Dwight Howard still technically on the roster for the Wiz, but likely not for long, Hayes could come in as a high-upside big man to pair with Bradley Beal and potentially Troy Brown as a part of the team’s long-term core.

Perhaps Thomas Bryant could be retained, as he is also a very young big man coming off of an extremely productive season with the Wizards, but Hayes’s upside will likely be too much for the Wizards to deny.