Detroit Pistons: Are passing and defense enough to keep Killian Hayes?

Killian Hayes recorded a double double for the Detroit Pistons last night in their loss to the Charlotte Hornets with 12 points and 10 assists, and also added four steals and two blocks.

The problem was that it took Hayes 13 shots to get his 12 points, as he went just 4-of-13 from the floor, missing all of his 3-point attempts and illustrating what has been his main issue since being drafted into the NBA.

Hayes has shown that he can affect games with his passing and defense as he did last night, but has also consistently shown that he can affect it negatively with his terrible shooting.

Hayes is averaging 9.5 points, 5.9 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals on the season, numbers you would take for a backup point guard in a vacuum. But the problem is that Hayes hasn’t been the backup for most of the season and is shooting just 36 percent from the floor overall to go along with his counting stats.

Killian Hayes is extension eligible in the offseason, but are his passing and defense enough to offer him an extension or is his time with the Detroit Pistons close to an end?

Detroit Pistons: Is Killian Hayes worth keeping?

Killian Hayes is just 21-years-old, so it’s not like we are talking about a grizzled veteran here. He has time to turn it around and has had stretches in this season in which it looked like he was doing just that.

But Hayes has been mired in an ugly shooting slump that really started with the game in Paris in which he completely stunk in front of his home fans. Since then, Hayes has really shown the extremes of what he has been as a player so far, as his passing and defense have improved somewhat, but his shooting has gotten even worse.

Since the Paris game, Hayes is averaging 8.1 points, 6.4 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals, so he has improved his assist and steal numbers from his averages for the season. However, he has shot just 28 percent from the field in that time and just 21 percent from 3-point range, a downgrade from his already pathetic shooting numbers.

Can a point guard in the modern NBA get by with those kind of shooting numbers? Fortunately, there is precedence in a guy like Marcus Smart, who has given Hayes a roadmap for how to do it. Smart has had several seasons with similar numbers but has been able to carve out a nice career for himself by being one of the best defenders in the league, winning Defensive Player of the Year last season.

Smart’s shooting has improved over the last several seasons, but he has still been under 40 percent shooting most seasons and is shooting just 38 percent from the field in his career. So there is still hope for Killian Hayes, but he will have to improve defensively, as Smart is a tier or two above Hayes as a defender.

It’s going to be interesting to see if Hayes’ defense and passing are enough to get him a new contract with the Detroit Pistons, or whether they will let him play out his final season and potentially become a free agent.