The Detroit Pistons drafted point guard Killian Hayes with the No. 7 pick in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft -- but after two trades, the Pistons collected two more first round picks.
The Pistons traded a protected draft pick to Houston for the No. 16 overall pick and veteran forward Trevor Ariza before the draft. With the No. 16 pick, the Pistons drafted Washington center Isaiah Stewart.
Recommended Videos
And they weren’t done yet. The Pistons then traded guard Luke Kennard to the Clippers for the No. 19 pick and drafted Villanova’s Saddiq Bey.
The 6-foot-5 Hayes was one of the draft’s top international prospects. He was born in Florida but grew up in western France.
Hayes, a lefty who has played in France and Germany, has good size for his position. He averaged 11.6 points and 5.3 assists per game in 2019-20 in Germany’s top league. His father, DeRon, played at Penn State and went on to a lengthy pro career in Europe.
Stewart, 21, is originally from New York. He averaged 17 points and 8 rebounds per game with the University of Washington last season.
Bey, 21, averaged 16 points per game and shot 45 percent from three-point range last season with Villanova.
The Pistons hired Troy Weaver as general manager this offseason, a big splash, to join with Ed Stefanski, Arn Tellem and Dwane Casey. The Pistons have moved on from staples of the franchise in recent years, including Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson.
The Pistons missed the playoffs in 2020, finishing with the league’s fifth worst record. The season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Pistons did not qualify to finish the regular season in the NBA bubble in Orlando.
Pistons advisor Ed Stefanski said last year that the team was rebuilding after trading longtime center Andre Drummond to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team drafted Sekou Doumbouya in last year’s NBA draft.