Former First-Round Draft Pick Officially Returns To The NBA

Back in the 2020 NBA Draft, the Detroit Pistons used their No. 7 overall draft pick on French point guard Killian Hayes, with the hopes he could play a key role in their future. A year later, they had the No. 1 overall pick and used it on Cade Cunningham who remains the face of their franchise, so unsurprisingly, Hayes' run in Detroit was short lived and highly disappointing. 

After that, Hayes headed to Brooklyn, but with a career average of just 8 points a night, clearly he isn't good enough to be a consistent impact player at the NBA level. He has not appeared in an NBA game since 2024/25 with the Nets when he averaged 9 points and 5 assists across 6 games, and now, he's back.

According to reports, Hayes has now officially returned to the NBA, signing with the struggling Sacramento Kings, who recently made franchise history when they dropped their 15th straight game to fall to 12-46 through 58 games this season. At 24-years of age, there's still certainly time for him to turn things around, but given his lack of production thus far, it's unclear if he can ever become a true consistent force in the league.

As of right now, it's unclear what Hayes' role will be in Sacramento, but given their struggles, he may get some playing time moving forward, and if that's the case, he can put forth a case for himself to land a big NBA deal moving forward.