Why Killian Hayes is one of Monty Williams' most trusted Detroit Pistons players
The Detroit Pistons have many issues ailing them during their current franchise-worst 17-game losing streak.
Turnovers have been among the most punishing.
Per 100 possessions, the Pistons (2-18) average 17 per game (second worst in the NBA), and opposing teams have scored 20.7 points off of those miscues — the highest rate in the league. It has reduced the Pistons’ already-slim margin for error.
Killian Hayes, on the other hand, has been an outlier. The Pistons' starting point guard is second on the team in assists per game, and has the second-lowest turnover rate, coughing it up 1.4 times per 100 possessions. Only Alec Burks, who mostly plays off the ball, is averaging fewer.
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Hayes, 22 and in his fourth year, has always been among the best passers on the team. But he’s having a career-best season as a playmaker. His 7.6% turnover rate is by far the lowest of his career — his previous low was 16.7% last season. He has started 15 of 19 games this season, and someone coach Monty Williams has relied on.
Hayes averages 4.3 assists to 0.8 turnovers in 26.8 minutes per appearance. Only Washington's Tyus Jones has turned the ball over less than Hayes, among 67 players averaging at least four assists. Cade Cunningham is last at 4.4 turnovers.
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Williams has bemoaned his team’s tendency to dribble the ball through crowds. Cunningham, who leads the NBA with 87 turnovers, also has a tendency to dribble high and get picked off. Hayes has avoided both issues, while maintaining his role as one of the team’s reliable distributors.
“One, he’s got a lower dribble … Killian’s a guy that’s down low, way below his chest, below his hips,” Williams said after practice Tuesday in Detroit. “That may help. And then he may just be a guy that’s growing and understands the value of the ball and how we need to get a shot, having command of the ball and knowing where guys are.
“It’s a tough one to pinpoint for sure, but I have seen some of our guys with a high dribble lose it, or get it deflected. When we watch the film, the guys that are a bit lower and stay out of the crowd, they tend to stay away from turnovers.”
It was unclear entering training camp if Hayes would secure a substantial role. The Pistons prioritized point guard as a position to address during the offseason, trading for veteran Monte Morris and rookie Marcus Sasser. Hayes didn’t receive a rookie extension and will enter restricted free agency in 2024.
But Williams expressed his affinity for big point guards, and Hayes, at 6 feet 5, has the size and length to defend more than one position. Williams challenged Hayes to play like a starter. The guard has since started 19 games including four preseason matches. Morris’ injury, which will keep him out until at least the end of January, cleared a path for him. And Hayes has capitalized.
The team has begun to play Cunningham more off-ball the past week to improve his shot quality and make it tougher for opposing defenses to blitz and trap him. Jaden Ivey started five consecutive games in Hayes’ place from Nov. 19-29, but Hayes was reinserted into the starting five as losses pile up.
The hope is Bojan Bogdanovic and Cunningham will give Hayes more weapons to distribute the ball to.
“I think it’s helping Cade to not have to shoulder the load,” Williams said of Hayes’ value. “My hope is to have Killian push it, Cade on the wing and Bojan on the wing, whomever, to allow for those guys to be in more live ball situations and finish. It’s certainly a work-in-progress, but we have seen, on both ends, the residual. It’s when I make a few changes that I gotta figure out the combinations in the second group, where we can get the same efficiency as the first group.”
It’s not just Hayes’ passing — he’s also having a career-best season as a scorer. His 42.9% field goal percentage through 20 games would be his first season cracking the 40% threshold, and he has done so with improved finishing at the rim and from midrange.
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It remains to be seen if Hayes can sustain it. Consistency has eluded him in his NBA career. But so far, he has lived up to the challenge the coaching staff set for him.
“Sometimes it just takes guys a while to figure out who they are, what they can do and not lose their confidence along the way,” Williams said. “He’s just figuring out who he is and starting to see some of the things that he can do. Quite frankly, sometimes it takes guys years for the game to just slow down for them. I know I went through that.
“Maybe he’s approaching that where he’s seeing things a bit slower than most young guys. He’s still a young, developing guard but we like the way he’s progressed this year.”
Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him @omarisankofa.
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Matchup: Pistons (2-18) vs. Memphis (5-14), NBA In-Season Tournament consolation game.
Tipoff: 7 p.m. Wednesday; Little Caesars Arena, Detroit.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why Killian Hayes is one of Detroit Pistons most trusted players
