At the height of the Pistons’ woes a couple seasons ago, they lost 28 straight games and had struggles across the board. The Pistons starting lineup was a mess that whole season, but most of the original starters - Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson, Isaiah Stewart, and Jalen Duren - remain on the team. The one notable exception, who was cut halfway through the 2023-24 season was Killian Hayes. Despite his struggles in Detroit, Hayes has now found another chance in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Killian Hayes is one of the Pistons’ biggest regrets
For Pistons fans, Hayes is a memory they’d much rather forget. He was originally drafted with the 7th overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft; notably, fellow point guard Tyrese Haliburton was chosen a few selections later. Hayes never amounted to much on the Pistons despite ample opportunities.
He was a solid defender and playmaker but lacked any scoring aggression or a reliable outside shot. In many ways, he was like a smaller, less talented Ben Simmons. The peak of fans’ frustration with Hayes came through no fault of his own, but rather the hubris of Monty Williams.
When Williams took over the head coaching job, he decided to emphasize defense over everything else. This resulted in the starting lineup I mentioned earlier, which had four good defenders around Cade Cunningham. Unfortunately, none of those four players was a respected shooter so the spacing was absolutely atrocious for Cade.
And rotting on the bench behind Hayes was Jaden Ivey. Ivey clearly outplayed Hayes whenever he stepped on the court, but Williams refused to give Ivey the starting spot for months due to his subpar defense. This may have been detrimental not only to the win-loss record that season, but also to Ivey’s long-term development as a second star. Fortunately, Ivey has shown incredible resilience throughout his career and made that nightmare season just a blimp in the Pistons’ overall timeline.
Finally, after a terrible half-season for the Pistons, Hayes was cut from the team. His final stats from that season were seven points and five assists per game on ugly shooting splits of 41 percent from the field and 30 percent from three.
Pistons fans were surprised to hear he got a second chance last season in Brooklyn. After signing a short-term contract there, he appeared in six games and averaged nine points and five assists while shooting 42 percent from the field and a much more respectable 38 percent from three. His outside shot looked much improved from his days in Detroit. But more importantly, he seemed to be much more aggressive and confident than ever before.
Now he’s gotten another chance with the Cavaliers, a genuine contender. It’s unclear how much he can really help a winning team, but he can serve as an emergency option at point guard for Cleveland. Perhaps the Cavs are hoping that he can shoot well enough from outside to survive in their offensive ecosystem, while bringing a level of playmaking and defense that many of their guards lack.