Detroit Pistons: 3 priorities for the Pistons heading into 2021-22

The Detroit Pistons’ backcourt

When Cade Cunningham was drafted by the Pistons, there was much speculation that he would be the team’s starting point guard. There is no doubt that Cunningham would thrive as the Pistons starting point guard but let’s not forget that there is still a 2020 lottery selection still on the roster who also plays the point guard position in Killian Hayes.

Hayes had an up and down rookie season last year as he dealt with injuries causing him to miss a large portion of the season but he is a player with great playmaking instincts. It’s imperative that he improves his jump shot in order to become more of a scoring threat on the perimeter and also has to become more aggressive driving to the basket.

Even though we only saw a sample of what Hayes can do, we do know that he is a great distributor and will likely get more open looks with Cunningham in the backcourt alongside of him. It appears that Cunningham would be the better fit at point guard due to the fact that he is the better penetrator and has more offensive tools in his arsenal albeit Hayes is excellent running the fast break and is an excellent passer with good court vision.

In this situation there is no winner or loser as the Pistons should welcome a problem a lot of teams would love to have; two starting-caliber point guards with huge upsides. Many teams have had success with two ball-dominant guards in their backcourt recently. Look at Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. Chris Paul and Devin Booker. Kyrie Irving, and James Harden in Brooklyn.

This is the exact same scenario in Detroit, just with two young, promising and inexperienced players. But who knows, Cunningham and Hayes could become the Pistons most dynamic backcourt duo since Joe Dumars and Isiah Thomas.