How Good can Killian Hayes be?

[ComboGuardCity]

On November 3rd, I like many investors sold at the bottom:

I’m jumping off the Killian train. Seems like I was the last one on so I’ll turn off the lights and lock up. His confidence is just not there. The dude can play basketball, but he can’t play NBA basketball.

Over his past 4 games he’s averaging 16.5ppg on 52.5% shooting to go along with 7.75 apg. He’s clearly an NBA player when he has confidence. How good can he be?

[LaSheed]

Idk how good he can be but I think I admittedly jumped off the bandwagon 2 weeks before he came back. Glad to see it.

Spent alot of money on Killian rookie cards lol

[zeebneeb]

Yeah even i jumped off this year. His start was so damn bad though.

Tonight's game is everything everyone has wanted out of him. Aggressive, and assertive.

[MotownMadness]

KOC still holding out hope

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[Cowology]

Right now I'm picturing Tim Hardaway. Let me revisit this tomorrow after a good nights sleep.

[buzzkilloton]

KOC still holding out hope

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Thats why he rated Ivey so bad. He blames the Pistons for making him look so dumb with his rank 1 Killian take.

[rmfc]

KOC still holding out hope

Read on Twitter

Thats why he rated Ivey so bad. He blames the Pistons for making him look so dumb with his rank 1 Killian take.

I read that "A Way-Too-Early 2022 Redraft" article. Sheesh...

[bstein14]

If he can give you 12 PPG with 37.5% there point shooting, 6 assists with a better than 3:1 assist to TO ratio all while playing solid D (like he has over the last 13 games) he's for sure an above average backup PG in this league and well worth the $7+ million next year.

Will he sustain this level or play or improve? Or fall back down a bit? Hard to say for sure because we've seen good stretches from other players at certain times.... Also its hard to say how Killian's role and play will change once Cade comes back. Cade obviously plays with the ball in his hands a lot so we'll have to see how Killian does as more of a catch and shoot player in his play next to Cade. He's been solid as of late and made the defense pay a few times tonight when the Mavs double teamed Bojan.

[zeebneeb]

Its always been scoring with Killian. He can pass, rebound, and defend, but was so passive on his own scoring.

If he can consistently play like this, well hell, the sky's the limit for Hayes and his skillset.

Consistency is king though, so let's see what happens.

[Manocad]

bstein and vege are killing puppies right now.

[SuperBad]

Even when his numbers haven’t been good, it seemed as if the team has starting playing better since began starting again. Though it did coincide with Bagley and Burke returning. Either way this is so good that hes turning the corner, it’s been a long time coming.

[bstein14]

bstein and vege are killing puppies right now.

Nah I'm excited because of Killian can keep this up, at worst we have a solid backup PG next year instead of $7 million of dead cap... if he keeps building on it it could really propel the rebuild that seemingly has stalled out a bit without much signs of improvement as a team. If Killian ends up playing great and Bey and Ivey are bench players the rest of the year I have zero problem with that at all. As long as Killian is earning it and doing what it takes to help the team win I'm all about having a better team.... I was just super tired of watching go 1-5 on wide open shots or 2-8 type nights which we've seen tons of... I was ready to move on from that... but if he can make baskets and do everything else he should be playing a bunch.

[Manocad]

bstein and vege are killing puppies right now.

Nah I'm excited because of Killian can keep this up, at worst we have a solid backup PG next year instead of $7 million of dead cap... if he keeps building on it it could really propel the rebuild that seemingly has stalled out a bit without much signs of improvement as a team. If Killian ends up playing great and Bey and Ivey are bench players the rest of the year I have zero problem with that at all. As long as Killian is earning it and doing what it takes to help the team win I'm all about having a better team.... I was just super tired of watching go 1-5 on wide open shots or 2-8 type nights which we've seen tons of... I was ready to move on from that... but if he can make baskets and do everything else he should be playing a bunch.

sure thing

[Cowology]

Its always been scoring with Killian. He can pass, rebound, and defend, but was so passive on his own scoring.

If he can consistently play like this, well hell, the sky's the limit for Hayes and his skillset.

Consistency is king though, so let's see what happens.

This is actually fairly accurate. Hayes has always had some NBA level attributes.

Going back to last season a fairly common view has been that IF Hayes learned to shoot he'd be a great fit next to Cade, and if not then he'd probably be outa the league in a couple years. He's got size, rebounds & defends well and is the best passer on our team, but his individual offense has been historically bad and a significant liability.

Kinda crazy to see Hayes out there killing it in the mid-range. Kids got some handles. He was able to get where he wanted and shot with confidence. There are still some major holes in his game and better scouting will have teams forcing him to his right, but IF he can sustain something resembling his current level of production then he's for sure a solid rotation player.

Could he better than that? I dunno. Maybe? Baby steps. Let's get through the next few games and see how we're doing. If he turns into a mid-range assassin it will be one of the biggest turn-arounds I've seen in 30+ years, but I suppose it could be happening. He looked confident as hell tonight.

[Manocad]

Backpedal...engaged

[zeebneeb]

Its always been scoring with Killian. He can pass, rebound, and defend, but was so passive on his own scoring.

If he can consistently play like this, well hell, the sky's the limit for Hayes and his skillset.

Consistency is king though, so let's see what happens.

This is actually fairly accurate. Hayes has always had some NBA level attributes.

Going back to last season a fairly common view has been that IF Hayes learned to shoot he'd be a great fit next to Cade, and if not then he'd probably be outa the league in a couple years. He's got size, rebounds & defends well and is the best passer on our team, but his individual offense has been historically bad and a significant liability.

Kinda crazy to see Hayes out there killing it in the mid-range. Kids got some handles. He was able to get where he wanted and shot with confidence. There are still some major holes in his game and better scouting will have teams forcing him to his right, but IF he can sustain something resembling his current level of production then he's for sure a solid rotation player.

Could he better than that? I dunno. Maybe? Baby steps. Let's get through the next few games and see how we're doing. If he turns into a mid-range assassin it will be one of the biggest turn-arounds I've seen in 30+ years, but I suppose it could be happening. He looked confident as hell tonight.

That I will agree with, that it would be one of the biggest turnarounds I've ever seen as well.

With as much emphasis there is on the 3 pointer, he never really got into a groove. His mid-range game does look damn good as of late, and if thats his game, so be it.

If he's consistent, then Killians value goes way the hell up.

If he plays like this all the time?

Killian
Ivey
Cade
Stewart
Bagley

Play Cade at the 3. Hes got the size, screw it. Then draft VW;

Kilian
Ivey
Cade
Stewart
VW

why the hell not?

[buzzkilloton]

bstein and vege are killing puppies right now.

Bagley looking good too

[bstein14]

bstein and vege are killing puppies right now.

Bagley looking good too

For sure, Bagley has been solid on offense.... solid rebounding the ball... man to man defense has been solid down low against other bigs. Hopefully he gets a bit better on team defense and he'll be a decent player for us. Honestly I'm pretty good with Bagley and Duren just splitting minutes or close to it most games this year.

[Manocad]

bstein and vege are killing puppies right now.

Bagley looking good too

For sure, Bagley has been solid on offense.... solid rebounding the ball... man to man defense has been solid down low against other bigs. Hopefully he gets a bit better on team defense and he'll be a decent player for us. Honestly I'm pretty good with Bagley and Duren just splitting minutes or close to it most games this year.

Mmm hmm...what's your development trajectory for Bagley? Just curious since your development trajectory for Hayes had him becoming slightly above under the school desk gum in 5 years or so.

[theBigLip]

I had certainly jumped off the Killian bandwagon (was I ever on?) still need to see him do this the rest of the year before we make him an AllStar. If he can just be one of our 3 guards in the rotation, that would be great. Duren/Bagley make a reasonable post rotation that will keep getting better. Now we just need to get some studs at the forward spots. Stewart/Bey/Livers are good enough to start on a bad team, but not on a good/great team. Victor, where are you?