NBA Draft 2020: Top 3 options for Detroit Pistons with the No. 7 pick

Possible NBA Draft target for Detroit Pistons — Killian Hayes

Guard | France | 6’5 | 215 lbs | 19 years old 

If the Detroit Pistons want to leave the draft with a bona fide franchise cornerstone who can score, playmaker, and defend, then they should draft Killian Hayes. Eloquence or clever verbiage isn’t necessary for making such a clear-cut statement.

Aside from LaMelo Ball, who sees the game in five dimensions and throws passes that most players wouldn’t imagine possible, there is no other guard in this class that profiles as a prospective primary initiator at the next level.

Barring a trade-up on draft night, the youngest Ball brother is likely to be out of reach for Troy Weaver, but that shouldn’t be an issue if Hayes — whose likely range begins with Golden State (2) and ends with Phoenix (10) — is still available by the time Detroit is on the clock at seven.

Serving as Ratiopharm Ulm’s floor general across all levels of competition (Eurocup, German Cup, German BBL), the 6’5, 215-pound guard averaged 11.6 points, 5.4 assists and 1.5 steals on .482/.294/.876 shooting at 19 years old, regularly setting the table for the veteran-clad roster.

A master in the pick-and-roll, Hayes is adept at manipulating the helpside tagger, freeing up teammates on rolls to the basket, and reliably making the cross-corner skip pass with precision and velocity. He lags behind Ball in terms of creativity and artistry, but Hayes is right up there in his functionality and projection as a high-volume pick-and-roll orchestrator in an NBA era that places a premium on such on-ball creators.

Hayes has made dramatic improvements as an athlete in the past calendar year, with the effects making him a far better player on offense (change-of-pace/direction, standstill burst, flexibility) and defense (lateral quickness). Going from a bad athlete to a legitimately good one, in only one calendar year, is the type of outlier development that underscores Hayes’ upside as a two-way star.

At one point needing a screen to create any separation or avenue into the paint, Hayes is capable of using his strength or crisp change-of-direction moves to shed defenders and create advantages on offense.

Such an athletic development was beneficial to his defensive capabilities, too, where his naturally-sharp instincts were supplemented by improved foot speed defending at the point of attack and agility when chasing shooters around screens. He’s even better as a team defender, consistently filling in the gaps and playing passing lanes at opportune times.

Hayes is a superb nail defender, which would bode well for a potential partnership with the defensively-challenged Luke Kennard since Hayes would be capable of deterring penetration in the event that Kennard gets beat out on the perimeter. Considering all of the mental and physical traits, Hayes is a pretty strong bet to be a positive on defense, which can’t be said for most guard-sized players, especially not ones slated to get drafted this year.

Much of the concern in Hayes’ offense, aside from the exaggerated concerns over his preference to use his left hand, is the translation of his shot. There is a staggering disconnect between Hayes’ effectiveness and comfort shooting off the catch versus shooting off the bounce, visible both on film and highlighted more so in his shot profile on Synergy.

While Hayes found much more comfort and success as a jump shooter off the dribble, nailing 38.8% of his 85 half-court attempts (77th percentile), he was utterly disastrous on catch-and-shoot attempts, only hitting 22.2% of his 36 looks (12th percentile).

Pinpointing one specific reason for such a difference isn’t possible, due to how many factors are at play. His upper body mechanics (set point, hand placement, elbow angle), shot preparation (footwork, energy transfer, gather routine), and biomechanics (knee valgus, core and leg strength) will all need to be cleaned up by an NBA shooting coach and physio staff, which will take time. (PD Web has done a better job breaking down all of the mechanical elements than I ever could.)

But it’s very, very hard to envision a player like Hayes — an elite free throw shooter with legit floater touch and an advanced pull-up shooting arsenal that includes Hardenesque double stepbacks — not figuring things out from beyond the arc. He probably won’t be an effective off-ball player as a rookie, but his flaws as a shooter are fixable and are nowhere damning enough to warrant a slide on draft night.

Killian Hayes is really, really good at basketball. He’s good at passing, he’s good at finishing, he’s good at defense, and he’s probably going to be good at shooting. There are simply too many signs that scream “star upside” for him not to be the pick here, especially considering Detroit’s needs in the backcourt. If they’re looking for a player worth building around with the No. 7 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, then Killian Hayes is the guy.