RJ Hampton isn’t the only 2020 NBA draft prospect who has experience playing basketball professionally overseas that the Brooklyn Nets have worked out.
Although, unlike Hampton, ASVEL’s Theo Maledon didn’t have to leave his home country to play professionally. He was playing in his home country, in their top professional league, LNB Pro A.
And while Maledon is the same age as Hampton (19 years old), he’s been with ASVEL since 2017-18 — first earning major time in 2018-19.
Throughout his three-year professional career, Maledon has averaged 6.4 points per game on 45.6% shooting (34.6% from three) while playing 15.9 minutes per game.
Maledon has been linked to the Nets in several mock drafts, and there appears to be some interest on Brooklyn’s part.
It seems the French guard feels similarly about the Nets.
“They’re a great group of people,” Maledon said on a Zoom call Thursday when reflecting on his workout with the Nets. “I really enjoyed it.”
USA TODAY SMG’s Ky Carlin helped with the reporting for this story.