Detroit Pistons: 3 burning questions after a successful offseason

What role will Killian Hayes have on the Detroit Pistons?

It’s difficult to gauge the progression that Killian Hayes has made since he entered the league especially after his rookie season was cut short due to injury when he only played a total of six games. He played in 66 games last season and started in 40 of them.

With the addition of Jaden Ivey, will Hayes be delegated to coming off the bench? And, if so, is that such a bad thing? In games that Hayes came off the bench, he averaged 6.8 points per game which is his career average for two seasons. The Pistons would be better off keeping Hayes on their roster instead of trading him away at this point because it would give the Pistons a solid three-guard rotation and could be a solid backup replacing either Cunningham or Ivey.

At the conclusion of last season, it appeared as if Hayes was finally starting to figure things out as his scoring began to pick up. Hayes is also a terrific passer and is capable of running the second unit as he averaged 5.3 assists per game. He needs to continue to attack and be aggressive and continue to gain confidence in his shot and playmaking ability.

When Hayes first entered the league he didn’t seem to be NBA-ready despite all the hype of being a projected lottery pick but this upcoming season could prove to be huge for him if he can stay healthy and get the experience he needs to continue improving. He’ll eventually get better and find his role on this team.

Let’s not forget that this is a 21-year-old kid trying to learn the hardest position in the NBA so let’s see how he adjusts over time.