SALT LAKE CITY — Théo Maledon has been playing professional basketball in his home country of France for three years. He is the protégé of former San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker, has trained with Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert on the French national team, and is just weeks away from beginning his NBA career, likely as a first-round pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Oh, and did I mention that he’s just 19 years old?
The young basketball prodigy has already interviewed with roughly nine NBA teams ahead of the Nov. 18 draft, and the Jazz are one of those teams.