In any case, Cade will need to spend some time working on and off the ball, and you’ll want to play him and “Kylian” together a decent amount to see what you have. If “Kylian” doesn’t grow into a player who’s serviceable next to Cade, then you move on. I think some skepticism is warranted but I’m not rushing or panicking given the reasons you mention above, plus the injury and last year’s hellish circumstances.
I didn’t call him Kylian!
I didn’t say he can’t be an on-ball player, I’m saying he’s not solely an on-ball player and a team would be wise to use his versatility.
Edit: I think Cade will be great with the ball in his hand, but not like a Lebron type player where he’s so good you’d be an idiot to ever have him coming off down screens or operating in other ways off the ball.
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I know. I’m making fun of the dude above who apparently wants to nuke the franchise if Cade and Killian share the court more than zero minutes this season.
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Btw, it’s good to see Beilein being able to do the things he couldn’t get buy-in for in Cleveland:
Detroit added former Michigan coach John Beilein to its staff earlier in the offseason as a special adviser. So far he has worked closely with the team’s coaching staff and development coaches to analyze, implement and execute player skill development programs.
“John has done an excellent job with the fundamentals,” Casey said. “We have a portion of practice just strictly committed to fundamentals. The first 5-10 minutes of practice. We were 27th last year in turnovers, that’s huge. And so even with a young team, just going back to the basics for our young guys is so important. So, we have a coaching staff full of teachers, and that’s where we are right now.”
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I’m guessing JB was using more than the first 5-10 minutes of practice though 
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That’s five minutes on fundamentals and 20 minutes to describe Cortez burning his ships prior to conquering Tenochtitlan and linking that story to the commitment necessary to win championships
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If Coach Beilein turns Killian into 40% 3 point shooter that would be pretty cool
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Please, I implore you and everyone in this organization (and the entire peninsula, to an extent)….can we look at things in a rational manner?
I have nothing against Kylian, and I am not labelling him a bust. I think it’s a product of sentimentality on the part of rosy eyed Pistons fans to paint his detractors as foaming-at-the-mouth neanderthals who screech about him as a bust. It’s a complete strawman because I’ve seen very few people who’re willing to sacrifice the reputation of their predictive powers to foretell that he’s a bust. After all, as you say, he’s 20 years old.
But here’s a really good article on Cade’s strengths, and some relevant bits:
Cunningham is a more deliberate player who loves to probe the defense and then kick the ball back out. The upside of that approach is that he’s not forcing up shots early in possessions and preventing teammates from getting in a rhythm. The downside is that he rarely takes over games on offense or puts his team on his back. He scored more than 30 points only once last season. He’s more of a traditional point guard in that he can dominate the ball without taking a lot of shots.
But Cunningham also showed in Vegas that he can play more than one way. Cade can give up control of the offense and succeed in a smaller role in which he plays off the ball and bombs away from deep. His stats from three summer league games don’t mean much by themselves—what’s interesting is how they compare to his numbers from college. His per-game assist average dropped to 2.3 while his 3-point attempts jumped from 5.7 to 8.7.
The question is whether playing off the ball is something he wants to do in the NBA. Or, more specifically, in Detroit. It would be one thing if Cunningham had landed on a team ready to compete at a high level. He would have been great next to Steph Curry and Draymond Green if Golden State had won the lottery. It’s even possible to imagine him accepting a more complementary role on an up-and-coming team like Minnesota, playing off of elite talent in Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards. Detroit doesn’t have anyone like that. There’s no one whom Cade should sacrifice for.
This is where Hayes becomes a problem. Playing Cunningham and Hayes together makes sense on paper: Cade can play off Hayes on offense, and both have the size to guard multiple positions on defense. But why should Cade be the one who accepts a smaller role? Hayes averaged 6.8 points per game on 35.3 percent shooting last season and 6.3 points on 31.8 percent shooting in summer league. None of that means he’ll be a bust; he’s a talented player who’s only 20 years old and missed a huge chunk of his rookie season with a hip injury. But he’s not good enough at this stage of his career to force Cade to change the way he plays.
It would not necessarily be selfish of Cade to want to dominate the ball on a team that won 20 games last season. There’s no point in the no. 1 pick doing all the little things for a team with no one who can do the big things at a high level. He wouldn’t even get much credit from fans and the media who vote for awards for sacrificing his individual stats on a team that wasn’t winning.
Hayes is the one who will have to change for the partnership to work. There are two things standing in his way. The first is that he’s not a good enough 3-point shooter (27.8 percent on 2.8 attempts per game last season) to play off Cade. The second is that it’s difficult for point guards to move off the ball, even when they can shoot. They have spent their whole lives directing the action and calling their own number. Waiting for someone else to give them the ball requires not just a different skill set but also a change in mentality. Cunningham’s ability to make that transition at such a young age is rare.
Playing Cade with Hayes relegates Cade to a mostly off ball roll because Hayes can’t shoot, or drive left. Cade is a fine player off ball and maybe the Luka Doncic comparisons are ill advised but, are people seriously suggesting that the best they hope out of cade is that he becomes an elite 3andD player, essentially a better Kentavious Caldwell Pope?
No, Cunningham has incredible playmaking vision and there’s an annoying few amongst the fanbase that are downplaying it because deep down they fear striking out on a #7 draft pick.
Hayes must be the one who proves himself as an off ball player before having the privilege of splitting ballhandling duties with Cade. They can both develop, sure, but the potential of a elite level playmaker in Cade is more exciting and of higher priority than developing Hayes. And for that reason, Hayes needs to start off the bench.
Are you butchering his name as an attempt to slight or are you an mlive poster?
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As a slight? I do him a favor by mistaking his name for that of a far more talented French athlete.
I missed an L, sue me. Don’t be a jerk and just address the point
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Lol, you blow the door open in here, cr@p all over “Kylian supporters”(whatever that means) and wrote a thesis on problems and solutions for the 2 when they literally haven’t played a second together. Nah.
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No where did I ‘cr@p’ all over a term I never used, And we have seen them play together in the summer league.
I think the idea that anyone would consider placing the #1 pick in the draft in a complementary role before he has played a minute because of Killian Hayes limitations is crazy and I hope the Pistons don’t do it.
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FWIW, every time they played together in a Summer League, they quickly jumped out to a double digit lead.
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Not saying much seeing as how Cade was on the court only when Hayes was playing point guard.
I mean we all know he had a rough summer league offensively, I don’t see what the point of obfuscating that is.
I think you guys are arguing with straw men. Even the biggest Killian supporters I see online acknowledge that he needs to shoot better and needs to finish better at the rim.
He does other things well, has only played 25 games and has a high enough ceiling that it’s worth seeing if they can play together.
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Shooting coach: John Beilein.
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