The Pistons entered the NBA Draft with the No. 7 pick, and general manager Troy Weaver and his staff completed their draft board and identified their top targets.
Near the top of the board was guard Killian Hayes, and even though some of the picks directly before the Pistons went a little differently than many had anticipated, the Pistons stayed true to their scouting and selected the player they coveted, while also filling a positional need on the roster.
Though Hayes, 19, played last season in Germany for Ratiopharm Ulm, he’s not an unknown quantity. Weaver, who then was an assistant general manager with the Oklahoma City Thunder, already had done his scouting work and was very familiar with Hayes.