Less than four years after the Detroit Pistons selected Killian Hayes with the No. 7 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, the franchise is waiving the guard, per league sources.
Sources tell me and @ShamsCharania that The Pistons are waiving Killian Hayes, the No. 7 pick in 2020.
— James L. Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) February 8, 2024
Hayes was the first pick under general manager Troy Weaver, who selected Hayes over Tyrese Halliburton.
The Pistons gave Hayes several opportunities and resources to develop as a lead guard. Despite his poor shooting numbers, he has been a regular starter or been in Detroit’s rotation.
After last season, Hayes’ third year, the Pistons were open to moving on from him. However, no deals materialized and new head coach Monty Williams wanted to try to develop the young guard under his watch. Hayes and Detroit were far off on extension talks this past offseason and that is when Hayes’ camp expressed interest in a new opportunity, per league sources. But there were still no takers.
Hayes’ downfall is his lack of scoring. He has had good moments defensively, is a good passer and doesn’t turn the ball over. However, per Basketball Reference, Hayes’ 45.5 true shooting percentage is the fourth-worst in NBA history (min. 5,300 career minutes played).
At 6 foot 5 with a sturdy frame, Hayes didn’t take many shots at the rim. Roughly only 10 percent of his career field-goal attempts have come within 0-to-3 feet from the basket. Furthermore, Hayes has never cracked 30 percent from 3 and never averaged more than 1.5 free-throw attempts per game in a season.
At the end of the day, it’s hard to be a lead guard in today’s NBA with those struggles.
The divorce allows Hayes to get a fresh start and for the Pistons to give more minutes to Marcus Sasser, the third guard Detroit drafted in the first round after taking Hayes in 2020.
Why Hayes didn’t succeed in Detroit
Hayes just didn’t add much to his game. His scoring never improved nor did his aggressiveness in attacking the basket regularly.
Unfortunately for Hayes, the following drafts worked out for the Pistons as they took Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, two on-ball creators with higher upside.
Hayes’ inability to shoot the ball consistently made him a tough pairing for either Cunningham or Ivey in the long term. — James Edwards III, Pistons staff writer