The Detroit Pistons have 4 options for what to do with Killian Hayes

The Detroit Pistons are hoping that this is the season that Killian Hayes finally breaks through as an NBA player.

So far, it has been the opposite, as Hayes has been even worse in the first eight games than he was in his rookie season.

The French point guard is shooting 17 percent from the field. I’m not even going to look, l but I am going to guess that is the worst in the NBA for anyone that has played as many minutes as Killian. Hayes is without a doubt the worst offensive player in the NBA of anyone who gets regular minutes.

His minutes and shot attempts are way down, and aside from all of the dreadful numbers, he just looks broken offensively. He doesn’t have a single shot in his bag and the Killian floater has turned into one of the worst shots in the NBA.

It’s been tough to watch for those of us who thought his play in preseason might be a preview of things to come, but instead, Killian Hayes has regressed and the Detroit Pistons are going to have to do something with him soon, as he is not currently an NBA rotation player.

They really only have four options.

Detroit Pistons: Take Killian Hayes out of the rotation

The Pistons could just sit him and hope that some time on the bench out of the rotation would do him good. But for who? Cory Joseph? Rodney McGruder? I’d rather see Killian out there taking his lumps than to see the Pistons turn to a veteran who is not part of the future plans. CoJo isn’t any better anyway, so until Alec Burks gets back, taking Killian out of the rotation isn’t really an option, as there just aren’t any better alternatives unless Detroit wants to play seven guys.

Send Killian Hayes to the G-League

While getting Killian some reps in the G-League where he can just play loose without any pressure does have some appeal, it presents the same problems as option one, as the Pistons just don’t have any other players to put in there.

Also, this would crushing to Killian’s already-low confidence, as he is in his third season, and players in their third season in an NBA rotation don’t normally get sent to the G-League. If he goes to the G-League, I am not sure he’ll return.

Trade Killian Hayes

Hahahahah, for what? This would be the ultimate in “selling low” as his value has never been lower than it is right now. Troy Weaver is not a “sell low” kind of guy, so this is not happening. Even if they wanted to move him, what team would want him?

The other bad teams in the league already have their own developmental projects to deal with and Hayes would never make the rotation of a good team. Even the French national team and fans are turning on Killian, as he wasn’t chosen for EuroBasket and if you use Google translate on some of French Twitter’s comments you’ll see they are even harder on him than we are.

That really only leaves one choice.

Let Killian Hayes play through it

If I were coach Casey, I’d tell Hayes not to even worry about scoring. The only way he makes it in the NBA at this point is by becoming a lockdown defender and a great passing point guard. There is still value in those two skills, especially once the Detroit Pistons are back to full strength.

I’d tell him to commit to stopping his guy every night. Commit to hustle. Commit to energy. Those are things that can be there even when the shots aren’t falling. But to be honest, Killian plays without any of that desperation, and that has to change if he wants to stay in the league.

He has to build his confidence through the things he is good at, and can’t let his offensive limitations completely ruin him as a player. The Pistons aren’t good anyway, and it’s not like he is the reason they aren’t winning games, so now is the last chance he’s going to get to prove he belongs with this team long term.

I hope he does, but the clock is ticking for Killian Hayes, as he has been flat-out bad and won’t keep getting these chances forever.