When you are an expensive team like the Cleveland Cavaliers, there are some swings that have to be taken when filling out your roster. There is little luxury to be found on the bottom of the pile that is the NBA’s free agent pool in September.
That’s why the Cavs signed Killian Hayes to a training camp deal, the meme-worthy point guard taken 7th-overall in the 2020 NBA Draft by the woeful (at the time) Detroit Pistons. Hayes never lived up to the hype (Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer had him as the best
prospect in the draft), nor did he get even close to sniffing it. An inability to shoot, no feel for getting to the rim, and deceptively average defense doomed Hayes from the get-go. He was unceremoniously waived by Detroit in the same season they lost 28 games, unable to get playing time.
There were some eyebrow raises when the news dropped of the Cavs signing Hayes, but any sweat at the thought of him playing meaningful minutes can be calmly wiped away.
Hayes spent time last season with the Brooklyn Nets, mostly with their G League team. Expect the same with the Cavs, who have undoubtedly signed the Frenchman to participate in training camp and eventually play for the Cleveland Charge. Hayes has too much service time and cannot be signed to a two-way contract anyway. He will not be stealing minutes from Lonzo Ball or Craig Porter Jr., rest assured.
However, the Cavs have a potentially fairly fragile point guard situation. Darius Garland will likely not be ready for the start of the regular season. Ball has a long, long list of injuries throughout his career. Porter played heavier minutes two years ago (when Garland and Donovan Mitchell were both dealing with injuries), but he is still a limited player. Sam Merrill can handle the ball, but the Cavs need him to fill some roles while Max Strus heals from his broken foot. Of course, Mitchell can also play the point, but the Cavs may not want to saddle their star with too much offensive responsibility to keep him fresh throughout the season.
There are many, many bad things that would have to happen before fans should start to worry about Hayes playing at Rocket Arena. And even then, it is just as likely that they scour the free agent market for a better player should worst come to worst. Hayes may have some level of unrealized potential, but the Cavs are not acting as if they are grooming him to play critical minutes. He is a G League player that will get plenty of run for the Charge.
In terms of his G League numbers last year, Hayes had some success. In 33 games with the Long Island Nets, Hayes averaged 17.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game on pretty good shooting efficiency. Those are solid stats for a guy who never even remotely approached those numbers in the NBA, but he can certainly dominate in the G League. The Charge had a disappointing season last year, but have a new head coach in Eli Kell-Abrams and a desire to retool the team. Hayes should infuse the G League roster with some desperately needed playmaking and ball handling, two things they did not have last year.
The Cavs have to take some swings on players in their lower levels of the organization. They have limited future draft assets, a top-heavy and expensive roster, and a strong pedigree of molding players through the G League. They tried a similar experiment with Emoni Bates, another talented but deeply flawed player. It ended up not working out, but the Cavs gave it a go. They created an environment for Bates to work on his weaknesses without the pressures of trying to live up to his previously sky-high expectations. Hayes is in the same position.
Perhaps Hayes turns his career around and can be an NBA-caliber, rotation-ready, point guard. It more than likely will not happen in Cleveland, if at all. But that is the nature of being an expensive, deep team like the Cavs – you have to fill out the organization with some swings. Just be ready for plenty of misses.
