Killian Hayes, a projected top-10 NBA draft pick in the ESPN Top 100, won’t play in a three-week tournament the German league plans to hold in June to finish its season, a source told ESPN.
Hayes’ ratiopharm Ulm is among the teams slated to participate in the 10-team, 36-game German Basketball Bundesliga tournament set for June in Munich.
Several German teams have given their players final say in deciding whether to participate in the tournament, a source said, especially import players who will need to travel back to Germany from the United States.
The NBA draft remains set for June 25, potentially during the German league tournament. This could present a conflict for the French national Hayes, who is preparing in his hometown of Lakeland, Florida, for what’s likely to be a limited predraft process.
NBA teams are lobbying the league office to push the draft to August, at the earliest, in order to salvage as much of the predraft process as possible, ESPN reported last month.
The German league is still awaiting a “green light” from government health authorities to conduct the tournament, something it hopes to receive by no later than May 18, as teams will need to quarantine for two weeks, conduct a training camp, and then begin play, with the season ending no later than June 30. The BBL is hoping to isolate players for a period of three weeks to avoid the risk of infections. The league submitted hygiene and safety protocols to the responsible authorities and political bodies for approval, including plans for about 2,750 COVID-19 tests.
A round-robin stage of four games would be followed by playoffs consisting of quarterfinals, semifinals and finals, which will determine the league champion and the important automatic berth for next season’s Euroleague, the continent’s preeminent competition.
The Euroleague has also announced tentative plans for a July 4 -26 tournament without spectators to be held at a central location. It will include playing out the remaining 54 regular-season games followed by single-elimination quarterfinals, semifinals and a final. That tournament also awaits the approval of public-health authorities and local governments.
The Euroleague set a deadline of May 24 to decide the fate of its season and the secondary EuroCup league’s, which would hold its own tournament July 4 -17.
Other European domestic competitions, such as the Spanish ACB and the Israeli Super League, have plans for similar tournaments. While some of the top competitions, such as the VTB United League, Italy, Lithuania and Greece have canceled their seasons, the outcome of the French, Turkish and Adriatic leagues remain undecided.
Source : ESPN
