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How Ashton Hagans’ decision to return affected Tyrese Maxey

Ashton Hagans is a complicated basketball player, but a disclaimer first: He deserves to be beloved. Dude left e-v-e-r-y-thing on the court and is the best defensive player to pass through Kentucky in my lifetime.

He also exits for the NBA in a world currently befouled by a pandemic. But despite COVID-19, Hagans’ NBA stock was never all that high. He’s not a three-point threat and struggled to finish. That’s usually a thumb-across-the-neck for hopeful NBA point guards, but most point guards aren’t defensive demigods like Hagans.

He didn’t improve his stock much if any in 2020 and spent another year in college wading water on the big boards, although Hagans’ game did take quite a leap between seasons in college.