After being drafted with the seventh overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, Killian Hayes received a text from Pistons forward and fellow Frenchman Sekou Doumbouya.

It was a straightforward message, consisting of an eye emoji.

“I told him ‘I’m coming,’ in French,” Hayes said, acknowledging the two would soon join forces in Detroit.

Hayes had a feeling he would be a Piston after Wednesday night, but was reluctant to get his hopes up.

Now that it’s official, it’s clear both parties couldn’t be happier with the arrangement.

The Pistons had Hayes, a point guard, near the top of their draft board. And Hayes wanted to team with Doumbouya, who he became acquainted with through the French professional basketball circuit. Doumbouya was drafted 15th overall by the Pistons in 2019.

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Pistons general manager Troy Weaver had a tall task Wednesday, his first draft with the organization after being hired in June. He wanted to select the best player available — a player who could both develop into a franchise cornerstone and help establish a new culture for the organization.

Hayes checked every box. And he’s ready for the challenge.

“I was pretty confident,” Hayes said of the likelihood of him ending up in Detroit. "Like everybody knows, nothing is guaranteed. It wasn’t 100% sure I was going to go to Detroit. But I had a good feeling about it from the meeting that we had, the talks that we had. Detroit was the team I wanted to go to.”

Leading up to the draft, Hayes appeared to be a strong likelihood to end up in a Pistons uniform. Born in Lakeland, Fla., Hayes moved to Cholet, France as an infant. His dad, DeRon, is a former Penn State standout who played for LNB Pro A, a French professional basketball league.

Hayes began playing professional basketball at 16, joining the Cholet Basket senior team for two years before signing with ratiopharm Ulm, a top basketball club in Germany, last year. His international experience appealed to the Pistons, as he excelled playing alongside grown men despite being 18 years old last season.

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“His dad is a former player, so he’s been around the game all his life,” Weaver said Wednesday night. “He has a really competitive spirit. That’s the biggest trait we looked for, I said in the press conference that we want competitive guys. He’s extremely competitive. He’s been a pro for a while, since he was 16, so I think his learning curve may be a little faster than the normal rookie in the states.”

Hayes excels in the pick-and-roll, and has promising footwork for his age. He isn’t an elite athlete, but he’s big for the point guard position (6-foot-5 with a 6-8 wingspan), moves well and competes hard on both ends of the floor — all traits that appealed to the Pistons. He averaged 12.8 points and 6.2 assists last season.

The Pistons needed a lead point guard after moving on from Reggie Jackson in February. Hayes has shown he’s capable of being a high-level playmaker, and said it’s the best part of his game.

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“Just making plays for others, or making plays for myself,” he said. “I love dishing out the ball for easy assists. I love playing fast in transition. I just like to make plays, and the part that I work on is everything, honestly. I know I have a lot of things to learn about the game. I’ve played overseas for most of my life. So coming in, I need to watch a lot of tape, talk with all of my teammates about how the game is played. So adjusting to the NBA style of basketball.”

Hayes compared himself to former San Antonio Spurs star Manu Ginobili, while Weaver compares him to Miami Heat point guard Goran Dragic — both are lefties, like Hayes.

Despite being from France, Hayes had connections to the Pistons beyond his friendship with Doumbouya. He started training with former Piston point guard Will Bynum last summer, thanks to a mutual connection with Pistons Hall of Famer and former president Joe Dumars. Bynum is a big fan of Hayes' work ethic and competitiveness, likening him to another guard who played overseas and was raised by a father who played basketball — Kobe Bryant.

Bynum gave Hayes an introduction to Detroit, and what Pistons fans expect from the organization. Soon, Hayes will learn firsthand. The season starts Dec. 22.

“Everybody knows about the Bad Boys,” Hayes said. “In ‘04, (the Pistons) won the championship. I trained with Will all last summer, he came down to Orlando like a month ago, so we talked a lot about Detroit. He said it’s a hard-working city, so if I get drafted there, just make sure I bring my all every game.”

Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @omarisankofa. Read more on the Detroit Pistons and sign up for our Pistons newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why Detroit Pistons chose Killian Hayes in NBA draft to lead rebuild