The right hip subluxation that has sidelined Pistons rookie lottery selection Killian Hayes since January 4 will keep him off the court for at least the next eight weeks, the club announced today in a press release. Detroit will re-evaluate the 19-year-old point guard and determine a return timeline after that period.
When he first incurred the injury, Hayes was originally projected to miss about four to six weeks should a specialist determine he would not require surgery.
The silver lining to this extended absence, however, is that Hayes will apparently not require a surgical procedure to address the injury, per David Aldridge of The Athletic (via Twitter).
Veteran point guards Derrick Rose and Delon Wright will continue to soak up most of Hayes’ minutes as the rookie continues to recover. Third-year point guard Frank Jackson may get additional run. Forwards Jerami Grant and Blake Griffin will be relied upon for supplemental ball-handling.
Across his first seven NBA games, Hayes especially struggled on offense. He sported an underwhelming slash line of .277/.250/.500.