Pistons: Cade Cunningham and Killian Hayes are both two-way threats

Scouts around the league have been enamored with Cade Cunningham due to his incredible skill set on both ends of the floor, and being drafted to the Detroit Pistons to play alongside Killian Hayes might give rise to one of the greatest backcourt duos we’ve seen since the Goin’ to Work era.

Among contenders in the Eastern Conference, many have struggled to generate offense in high pressure situations because they are over reliant on their primary ball handler. The most notorious example of this is the Philadelphia 76ers, who have struggled with generating perimeter offense for years.

On the other hand, teams with elite guard play are sometimes exploited defensively due to one or both members of the backcourt being a weak defender. The 2016 finals started a trend of NBA media discussing “matchup hunting” a weak defender through screening actions due to Kyrie Irving and LeBron James constantly doing it to Steph Curry during that series.

Detroit Pistons: Cade Cunningham and Killian Hayes can be elite on both ends

The tandem of Cade Cunningham and Killian Hayes has the potential to flip that script on its head and lead one of the most dynamic teams in the league.

To start, both players are exceptional playmakers already, being able to make some of the toughest cross court passes in the game, and can see plays developing before they happen with their incredible awareness.

All signs point to both players having at least above average shooting ability when all is said and done. That will unlock their ability to run P&R actions, as defenders won’t be safe ducking under screens against them. People often cite Killian’s low overseas perimeter shooting percentages as a knock against him, but he shoots well from the line, which is historically a much better indicator of NBA three-point acumen.

With regards to the point about current NBA guard play, these two appear to have little to worry about on the defensive end of the floor. Both have all the measurables that make for good defenders and project to be above average if not elite on that end of the floor based on what we’ve seen from them so far. These two are particularly effective in jamming up passing lanes and getting steals, generating transition opportunities and being able to get on the run against other teams.

It’s a given that both players will have to play off ball, and this is the main gripe most Detroit Pistons fans have with the pairing, but upon deeper inspection this perceived “issue” gives the team some unique advantages.

The playmaking abilities of these two will allow them to connect on off-ball cuts before other teams figure out what’s going on. In a similar vein, they can run some interesting DHOs because of their ability to fake a handoff and flow into a pseudo pick and pop or cause confusion to open driving lanes for Cade.

The other criticism that I’ve seen about these two is that neither is a particularly explosive athlete, but they’re both such intelligent and crafty players that they can easily work around that minor disadvantage.

Overall, these two are an absolute joy to watch and I look forward to seeing how they play together moving forward.