One of the Detroit Pistons’ goals this season should be to get Killian Hayes going offensively if that is possible.
Hayes’ 3-point shooting has improved, but he still doesn’t score much, which gives the Pistons two starters who are averaging fewer than ten points per game, which is not something most NBA teams can get away with.
Hayes is arguably the worst scorer in the NBA of guys who play at least 25 minutes, and if he is going to keep playing this much, he is eventually going to have to be a threat to score regardless of how good his defense and passing may be.
Here are some things the Detroit Pistons can do to put a jolt in Hayes’ game.
The Detroit Pistons should give Killian Hayes the green light
I would love to see Hayes take 20 shots in a game.
Unlike Cade Cunningham, whose confidence never seems to falter no matter how many he’s missed, Killian Hayes seems to lose interest in even trying to score if he misses his first shot.
If I were coach Casey, I would demand that Killian Hayes shoot more, as it is the only way he is ever going to get any kind of confidence and build the kind of repertoire he needs to succeed.
That would include developing some kind of floater or runner in the lane, as right now he is very good at getting to spots, but doesn’t do much once he gets there.
The staff needs to let Hayes know that it doesn’t matter how many shots he misses and that the offense will be better if he is at least a threat to shoot, so fire away!
Please let Killian Hayes run the pick-and-roll
Killian Hayes is only the ball handler in the pick-and-roll on 2.2 possessions per game on average, which seems insanely low for a guy who was supposed to be a PnR weapon.
Part of this is because Cade Cunningham has taken over as the primary ball handler, and the other is that Killian’s lack of ability to finish makes a rolling big ineffective.
The Pistons also don’t have a big who is a lob threat or even a threat to score, and the loss of Kelly Olynyk probably hurt Killian Hayes the most.
But Killian is still a very good passer and developing some kind of mid-range and floater game in the PnR is ultimately how he is going to make it in the NBA.
Right now he is mostly just standing in the corner, which is understandable given Cade’s ascension but it is not taking advantage of the thing that Killian Hayes was supposed to be able to do better than anyone in his draft class.
The Detroit Pistons should put Killian Hayes on the bench
I do like the fit between Cunningham and Hayes at times, as the two can wreak havoc defensively but trying to force Hayes into a shooting guard role is really not working overall.
Why not let him come off the bench and run the second unit as the primary ball handler? This is the thing he is good at doing and the Pistons aren’t letting him do it much.
Even if he stays in the starting five, coach Casey should stagger his minutes with Cade so that one of them is always on the floor, as the Pistons struggle to create shots without them.
I would love to see Frank Jackson moved into the starting lineup so that Killian Hayes can orchestrate the offense as the primary ball handler off the bench.
Hayes has mostly been a non-factor on offense and the Detroit Pistons need to do something to get him going. Simply doing the same things again and again is not helping his development.