OKC Thunder: NBA Draft big board 2.0 – Top 30 prospects
By Rylan Stiles
Killian Hayes, G, France, 6’5, 215 pounds, 18 years old
Killian Hayes provides the highest upside in this year’s draft. Depending on how teams view him, he might also possess the most value. Hayes has the talent to be the first pick in this class. He presents a ton of unknowns for some people, but it is a shot I would be willing to take.
Hayes is a potentially lethal 3-point shooter, shooting nearly 30 percent from downtown a year ago, with an even higher ceiling to grow into.
He is a great playmaker, with fantastic touch at the cup, but lacks the ball-handling skills required to get past high-level NBA defenders.
On the defensive end, the young guard has the strength and the size to defend almost anyone, but he makes his money on that side of the floor via his chaotic off-ball nature.
His motor, effort, and intensity is rare for a prospect, especially for an 18-year-old that oves to disrupt opposing offenses.
He is far from just a long-range shooter, he can also get to the cylinder using his strength and athleticism to finish through contact. Of course, his NBA range will be why teams fall in love with him, but his driving ability should not be forgotten.
The two biggest knocks on him have to be his defensive ability and his lack of speed. Defensively it is very easy to get around Hayes once you have him as an on-ball defender, which he will run into a lot at the next level.
For Killian Hayes to be successful, he will need to be hidden on the defensive end, or play in a scheme that allows him to be more of a roamer off-ball. The issue is, those systems are few and far between.