Milwaukee Bucks Pre-Draft Workouts: Nigel Hayes, Hamidou Diallo among attendees

The Milwaukee Bucks continued to look at their options ahead of the NBA Draft with a workout on Tuesday that included a couple of notable prospects.

The Milwaukee Bucks welcomed the latest batch of prospects to the team’s practice facility on Tuesday, as they continued to prepare for this year’s draft on the eve of the lottery.

This time last year, the Bucks were getting ready for the the ping-pong balls to dictate their fate, as Jason Kidd was on hand to represent the organization at the lottery. Picking at 17th and 47th this year, Milwaukee has no reason to be invested in the outcome of this year’s lottery.

Tuesday’s workout could probably be described as the most star-studded the Bucks have had so far in 2017, with a number of players who could potentially find their way into the draft.

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Long-time Wisconsin Badger Nigel Hayes, and Hamidou Diallo — the sleeper prospect who’s proving be to this year’s mystery man — were the standout players on hand.

The entire list of players working out on this occasion was published on the Bucks’ website early on Tuesday morning, along with basic bio information.

Let’s dig a little deeper beyond that, though, and take a closer look at those in attendance for this particular workout.

Hamidou Diallo

Guard – 6’5″

Having recorded the second highest max vertical ever at last week’s Draft Combine in Chicago, the buzz around Hamidou Diallo has become almost impossible to ignore.

Diallo was one of the most highly touted prospects of the 2017 high school class, and after spending a year at Putnam Science Academy post-graduation, he landed in Kentucky in January. In spite of being eligible to play, the young wing opted to sit out.

Much like the route Thon Maker took to the NBA, that meant Diallo was draft eligible in spite of effectively coming straight from high school.

Diallo hasn’t officially declared just yet, and may still return to Kentucky. Known as an exceptional athlete with great length for an NBA wing, it seems increasingly likely that a strong workout could earn him a first-round selection, though.

In his last year at Putnam, Diallo averaged 19 points, six rebounds and three assists per game.

A long, mysterious prospect sounds like someone the Bucks might be interested in, and Diallo’s comments won’t do anything to dissuade anyone from that idea.

L.J. Peak

Guard – 6’5″

L.J. Peak had an extremely impressive junior year, even managing to finish the season playing at a level he’d never quite managed to maintain before.

For the season, Peak averaged 16.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists, while shooting 48 percent from the field. Although Peak only shot 32.7 percent from three-point range on the season, as Draft Express noted, he made 46 percent of his long shots over his last 15 games.

Much of what NBA teams will be trying to figure out about Peak in workouts will be whether that was evidence of him having cracked the code with his shooting, or simply just a positive blip on the radar.

Away from his shooting, Peak possesses a long wingspan relative to his height and throughout his time in college he successfully leveraged that into making important defensive plays.

Sterling Brown

Guard – 6’6″

With excellent physical tools and a proven ability to make three-pointers at an incredibly high rate, Sterling Brown seems like the kind of prospect who will have a very good chance of sticking in the NBA if he can just do enough to earn the opportunity in the first place.

On the whole, Brown’s numbers may not dazzle, but he certainly has plenty of substance to his résumé as he leaves college.

Having completed his senior season at SMU, Brown’s career as a Mustang concluded with a place in the record books as the school’s all-time leader in games played and wins.

Brown’s senior averages of 13.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals show a player who is effective in multiple departments, even if he’s not a standout in any one area.

That honor instead belongs to Brown’s three-point shooting where he averaged a 45.1 percent success rate on 2.1 attempts per game over four years at SMU.

Nigel Hayes

Forward – 6’8″

Having cemented his place in the history books of Wisconsin basketball as a key component of one of the greatest eras of Badgers’ basketball, Nigel Hayes is finally looking to earn a shot in the NBA.

Named Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year in his freshman season, Hayes went on to make All-Big Ten teams in each of the following three years, and according to Bucks.com’s bio ahead of this workout, he’s also one of only two players in Big Ten history to tally at least 1,800 points, 700 rebounds, and 300 assists.

Hayes carved out an outstanding college career for himself as a reliable and steady presence across multiple Badgers teams, and is also known for his knowledge of basketball history and his vocal nature about the financial conditions for college athletes.

The question that has often come about Hayes in the last two years, though, has been whether his game has enough to translate to the NBA.

As a pro, Hayes would be a slightly undersized power forward, and his lack of efficient three-point shooting wouldn’t help either. Still, there’s a value to adding a diligent worker and consummate professional to any organization, and Hayes know-how may just prove to be enough to earn him a chance in the NBA.

Jalen Moore

Forward – 6’9″

Jalen Moore entered his senior year at Utah State having already shown himself to be a solid catch-and-shoot guy, and then found a way to push that particular element of his game to another level.

Moore went from shooting a low of 33 percent from deep as a junior, to making 42.5 percent from deep on 4.8 attempts in his senior season as an Aggie.

Measuring in with a 6’11” wingspan at the Portsmouth Invitational, Moore has good length for a wing, although he was a little light for battling against stronger forwards in college and would certainly struggle holding his own in physical defensive matchups as a pro.

As Bucks.com highlighted, Moore started 91 of 92 games for Utah State from his sophomore season onward, and led the team in points and rebounds throughout.

Deng Adel

Forward – 6’7″

Although not necessarily a household name in terms of his college performance, Deng Adel is a prospect who may not be entirely unfamiliar to Bucks fans.

A Sudanese native who grew up in Australia, Adel has often been mentioned in stories describing Thon Maker’s journey to the NBA, and was often pointed out as one of the more notable players of Sudanese Australian origin on the rise.

Adel’s ambition is said to be to earn a lottery selection, which makes him returning to Louisville for a junior year the most likely outcome at present. With an intriguing variety of physical tools, there’s still an outside chance that Adel could do enough in a workout to convince a team to take a risk on him this year, though.

As a sophomore at Louisville, Adel averaged 12.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists, while shooting 42.3 percent from the field and 34.9 percent from deep.

Having missed a significant chunk of his freshman year due to a knee injury, Adel could well be somewhat behind in terms of his development. That may mean he’s set to take a big jump next year, but whether it comes in college or the NBA remains to be seen.

Next: Milwaukee Bucks Pre-Draft Workouts: Tyler Dorsey headlines latest group

We’ll have further updates on prospects who work out for the Bucks as they happen, along with a variety of draft profiles on site. Make sure to stick with us for all of your Bucks draft coverage.