Nets decide to sign former draft bust

Nov 21, 2018; Dallas, TX, USA; A view of the team logo on the shorts of Brooklyn Nets forward Jared Dudley (6) as he warms up before the game against the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Brooklyn Nets are ready to bring on the memes.

Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Thursday that the Nets are signing guard Killian Hayes in free agency. Charania adds that it is a one-year deal for Hayes, who will now have a chance to compete for a roster spot with Brooklyn.

The move is not entirely surprising as the Nets had been linked to the 22-year-old Hayes earlier this month. But the signing is still sure to spark plenty of jokes.

At this point in his career, Hayes, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2020 draft, is known as a bust. Hayes was selected by the Detroit Pistons over future All-Stars such as Tyrese Haliburton and Tyrese Maxey as well as other high-quality scoring guards like Devin Vassell and Immanuel Quickley.

Entering his fifth NBA season now, Hayes continues to lag far behind with career averages of 8.1 points and 5.2 assists per contest on brutal 38/28/78 shooting splits. His bad shot selection and tendency for ill-advised turnovers also make Hayes a regular target of jokes online (even last year with Detroit when Hayes had a head coach who was an irrational believer in him).

The Pistons ultimately waived Hayes in the middle of last season, and no team had picked him up since. But the Nets do not have a lot of priorities other than player development (especially after trading away Mikal Bridges last month), so they will try their luck with the 6-foot-5 point guard Hayes.