Breaking: Sacramento Kings Sign Former Lottery Pick

At one point, he was considered a future core piece for the Detroit Pistons. But things haven't gone the way they were expected to for former 7th overall NBA Draft pick Killian Hayes. He's been out of the league all season, until now.

The Sacramento Kings have signed the former Detroit Pistons point guard.

🚨 The Kings are signing Killian Hayes to a 10-day contract, per @ShamsCharania. pic.twitter.com/A9Oo4Veali
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 22, 2026

It's a 10-day contract for the injury-riddled Kings, but Hayes could get a chance to show he belongs back in the Association.

The team has recently had three season-ending injuries (Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, and De'Andre Hunter), though none of them were to a point guard. Nevertheless, the shortage of bodies should let the 6'4" guard get in some floor time.

The depth chart at the point behind Russell Westbrook includes Devin Carter and Isaiah Stevens, who have played a total of 25 games this season in the NBA.

Since trading Dennis Schroder at the deadline, Carter went on a great four-game run, averaging close to 30 minutes a game, while averaging 15 points and four assists in that stretch. However, maybe too good for the Kings, who are obviously looking to tank the rest of the way. Carter played just six minutes Saturday night.

Hayes' Pistons career peaked in his third season, when he averaged 10.3 points and 6.2 assists while starting 56 of his 76 games in 2022-23. But Detroit released him after not being able to find a new team to take him on at the 2024 trade deadline. Hayes got into only 42 games that year with the Pistons.

He played six games last year on a 10-day pact with Brooklyn.

This season, he'd been with the Cleveland Cavaliers’ G League squad, the Cleveland Charge. He fared quite well in his 19 games there, averaging 22.4 points per game, 4.1 rebounds and 8.4 assists.

He'll get a limited chance to try to keep that going in the NBA with the Kings.

In his five-year NBA career, Hayes averaged 8.1 points and 5.2 assists per game while shooting only 28.1% from three-point range.