When the coach Dwane Casey to enlev Killian Hayes of his major 5 to replace it with the veteran Cory Josephit was not to punish the young Frenchman, but rather to allow him to better develop within the second unit. Casey wants to put more of the ball in the hands of the sophomore and playing with the substitutes gives him that opportunity. In the starting fiveHayes often found himself stuck in a corner leaving Cade Cunningham initiate attacks. While as the engine of the second squad, Killian shows more aggression. In his 17 games off the bench, the Frenchie has 6.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 23 minutes compared to his 6.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 26 minutes when he starts. With the second unit, Hayes seems more comfortable creating and especially his percentage has increased to 40% instead of the horrible 34.3% with the 5 major. The reason for this improvement, his progress in the attack towards the circle, according to his coach:
The fact that he went on the bench was never a question of distrust. It is rather a question of integrating it into the second unit. It will always be part of our core. I think his decisions are good. His defense remains decent. The goal for him now is to develop. One night we can start with Cory in this situation or another player. But, I like the way Killian behaves. He is aggressive and attacks the circle.
Even starting games on the bench, Casey trusts him late in the game. By far the most important for the tricolor. The proof, Hayes played the last 17 minutes in the victory against the Hornets and the last 12 against the Wizards. The leader still has about twenty games to confirm his progress and prove to the franchise that he is indeed part of the reconstruction project. And in other good news, Hayes seems to have validation from future Pistons boss Cade Cunningham:
His playmaking ability really unlocks things for us. It’s easy to play with him, and the fact that he leads the second unit gives him some freedom to play even if he makes mistakes. It’s normal for him. He does so many things for us that aren’t going to show up on the stat sheet, that even a standard fan just watching the game wouldn’t be able to see. He does actions for the team that we talk about a lot. Kill continues to develop and he’s getting better and better.