Prospect Spotlight -- Killian Hayes

[Jamaaliver]

Hawks Draft Targets: Killian Hayes



Strengths

• Playmaking: Hayes is a dynamic playmaker who is dangerous in the open court and half-court at making plays and whipping left-hand passes to open shooters. Hayes is creative in the pick and roll and is adept at creating ideal passing angles for cutters and spot-up shooters. He is only 18 years old, and his playmaking ability is well beyond his years.
  
  
  
• Dynamic Finisher: When he gets in the paint, Hayes is excellent at finishing with layups, floaters, and off the dribble jump shots. He has a great feel in the paint, often initiating contact and finishing through it.
  
  
  
• Defensive Awareness: Hayes is a very active on-ball and off-ball defender. Given his long frame standing at 6’5 with a 6’8.25 wingspan, he has the potential to be one of the best guard/wing defenders in the NBA. What he lacks in athleticism he makes up for with basketball IQ and defensive effort.

Weaknesses

• Athleticism: Hayes does not possess a quick first step and first bounce with the ball in his hands. Quick defenders will give him problems, and this limits his ability to finish at the rim in some cases. I am curious to see how the length of NBA defenders impacts his finishing ability.
  
  
  
• Left Hand Dominate: Hayes rarely, if ever, uses his right hand to finish or make passes. He is a left-hand dominant guard who, if he doesn’t get comfortable with his right hand, will have a really hard time producing on offense because defenses will exploit that weakness.
  
  
  
• 3-Point Shooting: Hayes has a solid and fluid shooting stroke, and I believe he will eventually figure it out. His catch and shoot percentages while playing in France leave much to be desired.

Team Fit
Everyone knows the Hawks offense revolves around ball-dominant guard Trae Young and that is not going to change. Killian Hayes, while being a point guard in France, could easily make the transition to a more off-ball role alongside Young.

More importantly, Hayes has great defensive potential, which the Hawks desperately need going forward. Trae Young is one of the worst defenders in the NBA, and Hayes — with his long wingspan — can defend the opposing teams’ best guard and hide Trae Young more on defense.

The Hawks can also use a secondary playmaker to take some of the load off Young and put him in more interesting situations on offense. The best-case scenario for the Hawks and Killian Hayes would be a Damian Lillard/CJ McCollum-like duo. Trae Young is the star, and Hayes becomes a secondary scorer and playmaker.

Kevin O’ Connor at the Ringer has Hayes ranked as his #1 overall prospect this year, and he is expected to be taken in the middle of the lottery. I think he would be a great fit for the Hawks next to Trae Young.

Sports Talk ATL

[Jamaaliver]

If we stay at #6, this is the guy I want. He profiles as a starting-level PG at worst and could fetch us quite a bit in trade years down the line. If he hits his ceiling, he's a star level guard on par with Cam Reddish.

Are There Any Future All-Stars in the 2020 NBA Draft Class?

Killian Hayes (Ratiopharm Ulm, PG, 2001)

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Scouts have been split on Killian Hayes' ceiling. I'm buying his trajectory and potential ascension to All-Star status given his translatable skills, his improvement since last year and the chance that he corrects current weaknesses.

Passing and playmaking are Hayes' signature strengths, and you can bank on them carrying over. His combined 38.7 assist percentage (between German League and Eurocup) was higher than LaMelo Ball's. At 6'5", he should continue to experience success creating for teammates in ball-screen situations, where he manipulates defenses with his eyes and hesitations and delivers touch passes to rollers and one-handed dimes to wing and corner shooters.

He didn't put up Ball's scoring production, but he shot 48.2 percent from the floor. Only six qualified NCAA freshmen have been able to average at least 10.0 points and 5.0 assists on 59.0 percent true shooting like Hayes did at 18 years old against pros, and three of those players became All-Stars: Chris Paul, Baron Davis and Jameer Nelson (the other three were Lonzo Ball, Jason Williams and Bryce Drew).

Hayes' efficiency is a selling point, but projecting an All-Star means buying this year's flashes of shot-creation and shot-making, which could lead to greater scoring potential. He executed a handful of new, advanced moves with footwork and handles to separate and get his shot off.

He still shot just 29.4 percent from three on only 3.1 attempts per game, but he doubled his makes from a year ago (30 in 33 games) and shot 41.1 percent on pull-ups and 87.6 percent on free-throws. Between his age, improvement and obvious touch, his jump shot is worth betting on.

Of all the draft's point guards, Hayes appears to have the most well-rounded skill set and scouting profile.

Bleacher Report

[Jamaaliver]

Every NBA Team's Most Underrated Player

Detroit Pistons: Killian Hayes



Search "Killian Hayes" on Twitter and you'll be treated to a slew of unflattering takes, some of which declare the Detroit Pistons have a draft bust on their roster.

Counterpoint: Can Killian Hayes plead 20 years old? Or limited rookie-season sample?

Better yet: Can we get to a point in which we're not writing off a 20-year-old who appeared in just 26 games as a 19-year-old newbie and then didn't win summer league MVP?

Right hip issues cost him most of last season, and what few appearances he made weren't enough to render a profound verdict on his future. That much is true. But Hayes tantalized for stretches.

Throw out the efficiency, and there is visible feel. He can be crafty when getting defenders on his hip, exudes patience in traffic and tossed some artful passes. His perimeter clip will recover. He shot 47.4 percent between 10 and 14 feet after rejoining the rotation. There is hope. He deserves patience.

And he'll remain underrated until gets it.

Bleacher Report

[HMFFL]

I expect him to have a good upcoming season. He's very talented and I hope he can stay healthy.

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[Jamaaliver]

K Hayes is finally looking like an NBA caliber player. He was one of my favorites from the 2020 draft. With Cade in town, I've wondered if Killian was acquirable with hopes to be a Manu Ginobili-esqe sixth man for us to integrate into our core. I wouldn't love him under McMillan, but under Kenny Atkinson or Mike D'Antoni, he could be a really nice addition to Trae.

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[Jamaaliver]

Pistons' Killian Hayes looking for consistency in variety of roles



It’s two steps forward, then two steps back.

Whenever Killian Hayes seems to get things going and he’s ready to put together a good string of games, something happens to push him backward. He had one of his best games of the season on March 7 against the Atlanta Hawks, but then he had an injury and was sidelined.

Again.

It’s been that way for most of his two seasons with the Pistons, where nagging injuries have stunted any kind of consistency and development that he’s had. Against the Hawks, Hayes had 13 points, including going 5-of-8 from the field, with four rebounds and six assists.

Then, Hayes was out for three games, before coming back and chipping in nine points, four rebounds and eight assists in a matchup at Miami last week. Two days later, in Orlando, there was another issue, and Hayes was out for a game. He returned in a starting role and had 12 points, four rebounds and six assists against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Some of the improvement has been due to establishing a new comfort level with playing with the second unit and getting to watch the flow of the game from the bench for the first few minutes of the game. That’s progress, but coach Dwane Casey wants to see more of that consistency and more time for Hayes to work on some things and his growth. Having played in Europe as a teenager, the transition to the NBA can be difficult.

In his time with the Pistons, Hayes has been a very good on-ball defender, sometimes guarding one of the opposing team’s best perimeter players. With his 6-foot-5 frame and his quickness, he can stay with smaller point guards, but he can also stay with a bigger man on switches.

That versatility makes him an asset on the defensive end, but at times, he can get a little too aggressive and get into foul trouble. The adjustment is figuring out how different officials are calling the game and then figuring out how aggressive he can be.

Wednesday’s matchup will give him another opportunity to match up with one of the tougher players in the league to guard, with the Hawks.

The Detroit News

[Jamaaliver]

Killian Hayes and the art of passing the basketball



For all of the talk about what Killian Hayes can’t do, the Detroit Pistons’ second-year guard still does carry an elite NBA skill.

As the 20-year-old has spent his first two NBA seasons collecting his bumps and bruises — both literally and figuratively — the charm in his game that enticed Detroit to select him No. 7 in the 2020 NBA Draft regularly reveals itself amid hardships. Hayes is an advanced passer. He’s a creative one. Maybe more so than anyone on the Pistons’ roster, he delivers passes on time and on target. For a team that often needs a willing and able ball mover, Hayes provides that in abundance.

The ability to pass isn’t an end-all-be-all skill at this level, but it is certainly one that endears a player to coaches. Hayes still has more development to go in his offensive game to cement himself in this league, but the way in which he creates open, in-rhythm looks for his teammates is a great starting point, particularly for a player of his age.

“A lot of his passes and plays are instinctive,” Pistons head coach Dwane Casey said. “That’s what attracted us to him.”

This particular play perfectly encapsulates how advanced Hayes is as a passer. His ability to quickly read a defense and internalize where the ball should go in a short amount of time is second to none on the roster.

In one fell swoop, Hayes puts pressure on the defense and finds the open man. Most players would need a second to internalize that read after picking up their dribble. The fact that Hayes can do it in one motion allowed for Charlotte to rotate late and for Livers to get a clean look.

Naturally, pass-first point guards are going to experiment. They believe they can get away with anything, and they’re more willing to see what they can get away with than your more pragmatic NBA player. For all of the dazzle that Jason “White Chocolate” Williams brought us, there were a lot of turnovers, too. The Ball brothers are some of the more gifted passers in the NBA. They aren’t averse to mistakes.

Hayes, more often than not, makes the right reads at the right time. The majority of his passes are on target, allowing his teammates to catch and shoot without breaking rhythm. He’s, too, got the flair that can put him on the top 10 plays of the week on any given possession.

At such a young age, it’s hard to process the game the way in which Hayes does. He blends the fundamentals and creativity well as a passer. Right now, that’s his elite skill. There is great value in making life easier for a teammate. There’s great difficulty in that, as well, especially when defenses don’t necessarily consider Hayes a scoring threat.

Hayes’ gravity as a passer shouldn’t go unmentioned.

“Just being able to be creative,” Hayes said of the art of passing. “Making a tough pass gives me excitement, seeing my teammates score.”

The Athletic

[Jamaaliver]

Finally looking like an NBA caliber player and real NBA starter:

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[atlantabbq99]

Finally looking like an NBA caliber player and real NBA starter:

[youtube]FunC-XIDqs4[/youtube

Nope, he still looks god-awful.

[tmorgan]

Yeah, sorry to intrude on your thread, but Kill is still a really bad player.

Four nights out of five, his shot doesn’t go in. Good passer, but still can be sloppy. And despite his rep, his defense is only solid, not good. Can’t really guard elite quickness. Great hands, though, I’ll give Hayes that. Similar to Dyson Daniels in that regard.

He can stay in the league, certainly, but decent backup is starting to look like his ceiling. Guess you never know what the future holds, though.

[Jamaaliver]

Yeah, sorry to intrude on your thread, but Kill is still a really bad player.

I appreciate the input. I'll have to watch a bit closer and not just rely on highlights and box scores.

[HMFFL]

He's doing very little with his 10 field goal attempts per game because he's such a bad shooter.

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[Jamaaliver]

I'd take a shot on this kid.

Just like Mavs did with Dante Exum.

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[Geaux_Hawks]

Off the bench defender, with some playmaking?? Sure. Him and Kobe would probably be a good defense duo with Kobe carrying the offensive load off the bench.