The Detroit Pistons have embarked upon their long-needed rebuild, and first-round draft pick Killian Hayes will be one of the centerpieces.
The Detroit Pistons reached the conclusion that many NBA teams encounter after enough years floundering in the 8-through-10 spots of their conference: Mediocrity in this league is hell, and it only gets worse.
After trying to tread water with 38-win seasons for the last few years, hoping to get into the playoffs and get that vaunted eight-seed and two games of postseason home gate, the Pistons bottomed out last season and traded or waived virtually everybody they could. They won 20 games and had one of the worst winning percentages in franchise history.
All this for a team that had a seven or eight-seed top end if absolutely everything broke right.
Of course, when you lose a lot, you get a good draft pick, and the Detroit Pistons came out of the 2020 NBA draft with a very good prospect in Killian Hayes. He was at the top of some draft boards, and there was no way he was going to get past the Pistons with the seventh pick if he dropped to them.
At worst, he’s the second-ranked point guard in this class behind LaMelo Ball (who went third overall to the Charlotte Hornets), but he may have the upside thanks to his physicality that leads to him being the better NBA player of the two.
It’s been some time since the Pistons have had a rookie with the kind of potential that Hayes provides, so let’s take a look at how the organization might use him this coming season.