Basketball – NBA: The French Hayes and Maledon were a hit … for nothing

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Published on April 8, 2023 at 09:17

Aurélie Sacchelli

Sunday, Théo Maledon and Killian Hayes will be on vacation and will be able to watch the play-offs on TV. But in the meantime, the two French leaders, who are a month and a half apart (they were born in June and July 2021), were a hit for their penultimate match of the season! Honor first to Killian Hayes, the Detroit point guard, who simply offered himself a career best this Friday, and a 115-122 victory with the Pistons in Indiana. While he had twice managed to score 26 points during his career, he this time scored 28, 9 of 29 on shots including 3 of 7 from three points, and a nice 7 of 7 on free throws. The former Cholet and Ulm player added 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals to deliver an almost perfect copy. The Florida native is wrapping up the best of three career seasons, averaging 9.9 points and 6.2 assists. Starter in 54 out of 74 games, averaging 28 minutes of playing time Killian Hayes has become an important piece for the Pistons, but he has not always shown consistency this season and has had a lot of playing time thanks to the injury of the star of the team, Cade Cunningham, who played only twelve games. What will happen next season for the French leader, who is under contract until 2024? In any case, we will have to do at least as well as in 2022-23.

Season record for Maledon

Theo Maledon, meanwhile, had a more chaotic season with Charlotte, where he only had a two-way contract, allowing him to go back and forth between the NBA and the G-League. In the end, the former leader of ASVEL and Oklahoma City was playing his 43rd game with the Hornets this Friday, and he showed up! During the 109-112 loss against Houston, he scored 22 points, 8 of 15 on shots including 4 of 8 from 3 points, and also delivered 8 assists and intercepted 5 balls. A full game! His career high in points remains at 33, a night in April 2021 and an OKC loss to Phoenix. But it is still his record for the season, which was previously 19. This could interest a franchise to recruit him next year? In any case, whether on the side of Detroit or Charlotte, guaranteed to finish respectively last and penultimate in the Eastern Conference, we are now impatiently awaiting May 16, the day of the draft lottery, which will allow us to know who will have the first choice and therefore, barring a reversal of the situation, who will recruit Victor Wembanyama during the June 22 draft. The Pistons will have a 14% chance of having the No. 1 pick and the Hornets 12.5%.