Killian Hayes badly tackled by the fans, Frank Ntilikina involved!

The debut of Killian Hayes in the NBA is not the most spectacular, enough to frustrate a lot of supporters. The latter have not been kind to him recently, criticizing him for his level of play… A worrying comparison with Frank Ntilikina has also been made.

If he recently caused a stir during the Celtics-Heat series, it wasn’t because Killian Hayes was in the field. Indeed, the French leader is still a Pistons player, who ended up with a poor record this season (23-59, 14th in the East). Nevertheless, some fans continue to believe in the young player, who had been selected in the Top 10 of the draft in 2020. To the point of placing him in the same discussion as some big nuggets in the league:

The last few drafts produced these generational talents. We took it for granted 😔 pic.twitter.com/mw0rTWjXRK

— Tax🎞 (@OREXEGENIC) May 28, 2022

For the pain, to be listed among stars like Ja Morant and even Jordan Poole is flattering for the young Habs. Nevertheless, it must be recognized that for the moment, he is far from evolving in the same spheres as them. For his sophomore campaign, the ex-Bonn player thus averaged 6.9 points, 4.2 assists and 1.2 interceptions, while playing more after getting rid of his injury problems (66 games played, 40 as incumbent).

The progression exists in terms of figures, but it is quite weak (6.8 points on average in 2020-21), especially if we compare his level of play to that of the others and especially Morant. The fans did not fail to point it out in the comments, and the latter were not the most tender with the nugget from France. Some even predict a future similar to that of Frank Ntilikina to the Knicks, which is anything but good news:

Killian Hayes slammed for lack of progression

Killian Hayes got that Frank ntilikina career trajectory https://t.co/Il6or1ZGIo

—JMB BandMan #Mr.TalkToMe (@G0LDMOUFD0G) May 28, 2022

Killian Hayes takes a Frank Ntilikina trajectory

I see hayes but don’t know the res

— Darin Linden (@DarinLinden) May 28, 2022

I see Killian’s name, but not the results

Killian Hayes still has a long way to go before being fully accepted by fans. His third NBA season will be decisive for him, and he will have to prove that he can shine alongside Cade Cunningham in particular.