His play of late has made both fans and teammates wonder why he’s still down in the G League but for Killian Hayes it’s part of a return to the promise that made him the No. 7 pick
This season hasn’t been so much about wins and losses for the Long Island Nets but rather about redemption. This has been abundantly clear with various players on the team trying to advance their careers or get back to the NBA. None more so than Killian Hayes.
The 6’5” 23-year-old point wants that more than anything and he’s not shy about saying so.
“That’s my only goal is to get back to the NBA,” he told NetsDaily Tuesday. “There’s been talks for sure, but I guess we’ll see in the future what happens.”
If and when he does, it will mark a turnaround that has taken him through disappointment after disappointment, then a break here, a break there leading to hope for the player once viewed as France’s next big star.
Hayes started his professional career as 16-year-old in France where he would quickly become one of the most promising men’s players in the country. The son of an American father and French mother, he was born in Lakeland, Florida, but grew up in his France. His father, former Penn State hooper DeRon Hayes, played most of his professional career with French powerhouses Cholet and Nancy.
Killian’s career didn’t take long to take off. He won the gold medal and earned most valuable player (MVP) honors with France at the 2017 FIBA U16 European Championship. He led his team to a silver medal at the 2018 FIBA Under-17 World Cup.
That same year, he was invited to play in “Basketball Without Borders” during the NBA All-Star weekend in Los Angeles. Hayes was the second-youngest player to be invited. He was only 17. It was his first time in the NBA spotlight and he impressed fans and scouts alike but he was still two years away from being eligible for the NBA Draft!
Hayes finally got his first at the NBA with the Detroit Pistons when he was drafted seventh overall in the 2020 NBA Draft. In some mock drafts, he had been tagged as high as No. 1. Shortly after he signed his rookie scale contract with the Pistons, Hayes suffered a hip injury which was diagnosed as a labral tear two days later. He played only 26 games in his rookie season.
His career never matched his promise in Detroit and although injuries were an issue, it was his shooting that hurt him most. After three and a half years, Hayes was unceremoniously dumped last February by the Pistons, then a historically bad NBA team with a 7-43 record.
Throughout his career, Hayes simply couldn’t master putting the ball in the hoop. His career shooting splits were 38.2% overall and an even worse 27.7% from deep. How bad was that? He was the worst in the NBA in effective field goal percentage each of his first three seasons, never getting above 42.6%, well below the league average of 54.8%. Last season, he had a slight improvement before he was cut, but was still the league’s third worst in EFG.
“It didn’t work because of his shooting. He never got his shooting,” said then Pistons’ GM Troy Weaver. “The guy can really defend, we’ve seen his playmaking ability, but if you’re a guard in the NBA you have to make shots.”
At 22, he was out of the league. No team picked him up. Then things got worse. In June he was cut again, this time from the French national team which went on to win the silver at the Paris Olympics. As one Detroit basketball writer put it, “2024 has not been a kind year to Killian Hayes.”
Slowly, things began to turn. A little more than two weeks after being cut by Team France, he worked out in front of a number of teams in Las Vegas and the Nets signed him to an Exhibit 10 contract, essentially a make-good deal, He had been working with former Brooklyn assistant coach Adam Harrington who he credited with helping his shooting mechanics.
Finally, one more setback. A hip issue. He wound up missing all four of the Nets pre-season games as he continued to rehab his hip. That didn’t deter him or more importantly Jordi Fernandez.
“The injury came at a horrible time, but it is what it is. That’s another reason why I stayed with the Nets,” Hayes told NetsDaily at Long Island’s Media Day. “With my injury, that’s who I’ve been working with to rehab it. So, it just makes sense to come back stronger and better. It’s going well and getting better every day.”
“I’ve seen him play live in practice and you guys haven’t,” Fernández said of Hayes in preseason. “I’ve seen him and I’m very happy with him.”
“Killian’s got a good feel for the game,” the ever-encouraging Fernández added. “He’s worked really hard the whole time we’ve had him here. He’s been really good at camp.”
Brooklyn couldn’t sign him to a two-way deal however. Two-ways are limited to players with four years or less NBA experience and Hayes at only 23 is in his fifth year. So, he was cut by Brooklyn and assigned to Long Island. Hayes’ decision to choose Long Island — to accept playing in the G League — gave him the best shot to get back to the league.
Things started out slowly at least in the shooting department — “up and down,” as he told Hoopshype in December. Then a month ago, Hayes exploded. In the past seven games, he seemingly has put aside his reputation as a solid playmaker and defender who can’t shoot.
Seven games — interrupted by a bad case of flu — may seem like a small sample to some but it’s promise for Hayes. In that stretch, he’s averaged 23.3 points, 9.1 assists, 4.4 assists and 3.1 steals with shooting splits of 57/50/89. Twice he hit five three’s in a game. His effective field goal percentage in that stretch? 65.3%.
“Putting in the work,” Hayes told ND about how his shot has been developing. “Just being confident at the end of the day. I like how my shot is feeling. I like my chances when I shoot the ball. That’s one of the reasons I started going in, just to have that intent whenever I shoot.”
While Hayes’ shooting has improved a great deal, he also continues to remain a natural playmaker getting his teammates involved.
“I’m trying to get as many assists as I can every game,” says Hayes. “That’s how I’m going. Just sharing the ball and keeping everyone happy. You can see that too (on the score sheet) six, or seven guys got over 10 points. That’s a good thing for us.”
Indeed. three weeks ago, he had 26 points and 18 assists in a win over Raptors905 in Montreal where his French heritage and language skills were a big hit.
Beyond the numbers, Hayes has established a great connection with his fellow teammates like Drew Timme and Dariq Whitehead.
“He makes the game so easy,” Timme told NetsDaily Tuesday about working with Hayes. “He makes it simple. He just makes the right read. Whatever he does, I just know it’s the right play, so it’s awesome to get to play with the guy at such a high level.”
He added, “I think we’re all surprised he’s still down here, to be honest, with the way he carries himself and has been playing.”
“Playing together can make Killian better and can make me better,” Whitehead told ND in echoing Timme’s comments. “Just being able to play off of him. He’s a really good player. The way he thinks and knows the game, and just the way he plays in general. It’s best for the team and gets everyone going.”
“It’s part of his development,” said Long Island head coach Mfon Udofia of Hayes’ shooting improvement. “Of course when you come to the G-League you have things you’d like to work on, and you want to be selfish about. It’s what we’re here for.
“Our coaching staff has been doing a really good job with Killian, he’s been putting the work in each and every day, and you can see it paying off. To see him have success has been great because he puts so much work in and he’s been working really hard.”
Brooklyn’s head coach Jordi Fernandez and his coaching staff were on hand Tuesday at Nassau Coliseum to watch Long Island destroy the Windy City Bulls. Hayes took a back seat in that game, letting Timme and Whitehead carry the load but still played well. Fernandez told G League TV he was there to “support” Long Island, but he also had a courtside view of Hayes. There had to be some scouting involved as well. After all, he and staff had arrived in Uniondale late morning after a big win in Brooklyn the night before.
It remains to be seen what happens next, but a lot of Brooklyn fans are already calling on their team to give Hayes that standard contract and bring him back up. There’s a number of moving pieces that have land in just the right way for the Nets to give Hayes that final shot at redemption. It should also be noted when Hayes told ND that he and his agent have been having “talks” he didn’t say with which NBA teams. The Nets only hold his G League rights. Any of the other 29 teams that have a roster opening can sign him.
But with Ben Simmons gone and the Nets pressing Trendon Watford to fill in at back-up point guard, there is a need for another playmaker. And giving players like Hayes — a fallen angel in NBA parlance — a second chances is what rebuilding teams do. One thing we know for sure is Hayes has been one of the best point guards in the G-League of late and it’s possible that we could have seen the last of him on Long Island as teams could be calling his name before the end of the All-Star break.