Detroit Pistons have no choice but to be patient with Killian Hayes

Killian Hayes has emerged as the most polarizing player for the Detroit Pistons, with fans taking sides on the extremes of the issue.

Some fans are ready to call him a bust, while others think he’ll be the next Jason Kidd, with us sane folks in the middle wondering why everything on the Internet has to run to the extremes.

I completely agree with the fans who wish Killian Hayes were better right now, and I can understand their desire to move him to the bench.

I also understand the fans who see the potential of a point guard with plus size and some obvious basketball skill and think the Pistons should keep running him out there with Cade Cunningham.

The truth, as always, is somewhere in the middle, as Hayes has not shown much (which is disappointing) but also hasn’t had much time to do so (54 games to be exact) on a bad team with parts that don’t really match up. He has flashed tantalizing skill at times, but it’s been wildly inconsistent.

It doesn’t matter anyway, as the Detroit Pistons only have one choice when it comes to Killian Hayes, and that is to be patient and give him a chance to develop.

The Detroit Pistons are stuck with Killian Hayes, so be patient

I understand that social media, particularly Twitter, does not deal in nuance, and when it comes to patience, HA, good luck.

Opinions cycle in and out of the ether so fast they may as well not have existed at all, and no one clicks or likes “luke warm” takes like “point guards take time to develop and Killian Hayes hasn’t had much time.”

I also realize that a lot of these fans are very young themselves, and since they believe they are in their peak and final form at age 20, think Killian Hayes should be too. The truth is that no one is their final self at age 20, whether you are student, entrepreneur, YouTube content creator, pizza delivery person or NBA player.

While putting Killian Hayes on the bench to run the second unit makes sense, the extremists want him “traded” or “benched,” which makes no sense at all.

For years fans demanded a rebuild and complained incessantly that the Pistons gave up too early on everyone from Khris Middleton to Stanley Johnson, and now many of these same fans want to give up on a 20-year-old point guard who hasn’t played a full season in the league.

Make it make sense.

Trading Hayes now would be selling extremely low when there is no reason to do so. Is he the thing stopping the Pistons from being good this season?

The Detroit Pistons have no choice but to be patient and give Killian Hayes the reps he needs to develop, and who knows, that might never happen.

But either way, this is really the only option on the table, as he is not a trade asset and benching him in favor of Cory Joseph is not how you develop a player.