Killian Hayes must now become a scorer for Detroit Pistons

In his brief career with the Detroit Pistons, Killian Hayes has proven to be an expert facilitator on offense. However, there is no one to facilitate for right now, they are all out. Can Hayes move to a new role as a scorer?

In his much injury-interrupted, year-and-a-half with the Pistons, the 6-foot-5 Hayes has shown several positive attributes. The 20-year-old Frenchman is an above-average defensive player, as well as a fine passer.

What Killian Hayes is not good at, is shooting the basketball (with the exception of the foul line). Since the No. 7 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft was made the starting point guard at the beginning of last year (which was probably a mistake), Hayes has not been able to put up big scoring numbers.

Hayes’ highest scoring game in his career is 21 points which he had as a rookie (in May vs. Chicago). This season, Hayes’ high in points is 13.

Despite his shooting woes (a team worst 34% from the field, and being the worst shooter on the Pistons is saying something), Hayes  will need to look for his shot more … there is no one really to pass to.

The top four highest scoring averages are Jerami Grant, Cade Cunningham, Saddiq Bey and Kelly Olynyk. Grant and Olynyk are out with injuries, and, then, came the hammer blow:

The only double-figure scorers remaining are Bey and Frank Jackson, and both are just coming off prolonged slumps.

How the Pistons are going to score in a game until one of those three returns will be …. interesting. They were not exactly the 2017 Warriors when completely healthy.

Hayes needs to step and look to score a lot more than he probably prefers. He does have a quick first step and knows how to penetrate into the lane. The problem is, when he goes hard to the basket, he likes to do a kick-out pass rather than complete the drive, and either score or get fouled.

Hayes is an excellent foul shooter (making 92-percent of his free throws this season) so he should look to get fouled shooting. We are not talking Andre Drummond bricks here.

There is no one to kick out a pass to at the moment. To who? For what? So take it to the hole.

A bit of good news is that Hayes has improved his three-point shooting, particularly from the corner. No one is going to mistake him for Wayne Ellington, but he is making 41.4-percent of his threes from the corner (31.9% on threes overall).

On a team filled with veterans who are solely role players, and rookies who are either second-rounders or undrafted, there are few options for coach Dwane Casey can turn to. Plan B is not very appetizing and Plans C & D are even worse.

Killian Hayes (I am sorry, have to use his draft status) has to show why he was the No. 7 overall pick in the draft. He needs stop being a nice background player, and come to the forefront and be a major part of the offense.

Basically being stripped of its scorers, this will be a great opportunity for the young players to get to show what they can do, and for role players to shine and prove they are more than that.

But, as far as the score of the games, it might not be pretty, although a scoring Killian Hayes would help – a lot.