An already-tough depth-chart decision coming into training camp has only gotten harder for new Detroit Pistons head coach Monty Williams.
Two weeks into camp, a few players who appeared to be on the fringe of the rotation — or out of it altogether — have made strong claims. Some who have felt like locks haven’t played because of injuries. Detroit has two more preseason games before it heads to Miami to begin the regular season, and one can only imagine that Williams will begin to solidify his opening-night starters and rotations in the next week.
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Halfway through camp, it’s time to take a crack at what I believe the starters and depth chart will look like once everyone is fully healthy, which, barring any setbacks, could be as soon as the second or third week of the regular season. This is based on what we’ve seen so far, conversations with Williams and reading the tea leaves as someone around the team every single day.
Let’s get into it.
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Cade Cunningham | Ausar Thompson | Bojan Bogdanovic | Isaiah Stewart | Jalen Duren |
Killian Hayes | Jaden Ivey | Alec Burks | Isaiah Livers | Marvin Bagley III |
Monte Morris | Joe Harris | James Wiseman | ||
Marcus Sasser |
Will Jaden Ivey come off the bench when the season starts?
Williams last week said that he hasn’t made a final decision on whether or not Ivey will come off the bench once basketball counts. All we know so far is that Ivey has yet to start in either preseason game — one which included Cade Cunningham sitting out.
Is it possible that Williams is using this time to make Ivey uncomfortable, to push him? Sure. Does that seem likely? Not really, especially after Killian Hayes got the start in place of Cunningham in Detroit’s preseason win over the Oklahoma City Thunder last Thursday. All signs point to Williams getting Ivey acclimated to his sixth-man role.
Ivey has had a solid preseason to date. The case could be made that he was the Pistons’ best player in the opening loss to the Phoenix Suns. He wasn’t as good in the win over the Thunder, but he wasn’t bad.
The emphasis for Detroit all preseason has been on the defensive side of the ball, and if you’ve taken any time to watch, rookie Ausar Thompson has really popped on that end. He and Cunningham could make for a very intriguing backcourt duo. Bojan Bogdanović has yet to play in the preseason, as he’s nursing a calf injury (it doesn’t appear to be serious). While he’s not a defensive stopper by any means, the Pistons need some floor spacing in the starting group, and the veteran is as elite as it gets. Additionally, Williams said after the preseason game against the Suns that Alec Burks started because Bogdanović was out. Both Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren appear to be locks as starters based on the games so far and everything Williams has said.
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It should be pointed out that if Ivey does start the season as the sixth man, that doesn’t mean he’ll be there forever. He’s a good player who improved every month as a rookie. Also, even though Detroit has yet to be at full strength this preseason, the starting groups haven’t set the world on fire. If the Pistons were starting their most talented five players, Ivey certainly would be right there. However, Williams is seeking balance in his rotations, hence the decision so far.
Is Killian Hayes a rotation lock to start the season?
I’ve got Hayes penciled in for now, but I don’t think he’s a “lock” by definition.
At media day, general manager Troy Weaver said this season is about the “three Ds,” which is defense, discipline and development. Hayes, maybe as much as anyone on the roster, has checked all three boxes.
Through two preseason games, Hayes is averaging 14.5 points on 57 percent shooting, 5.5 assists, three steals and just one turnover per game. A strong case could be made that he’s been the preseason MVP so far.
Behind the curtain (and with it open), Hayes has done everything Williams has asked of him. Furthermore, veteran guard Monté Morris has yet to play in the preseason because of a lower back injury, and Burks hasn’t been great. Maybe I’ll end up being wrong here, but I think Williams finds a way to get Hayes minutes to begin the season.
To go a little deeper, it feels like Williams could go beyond a 10-man rotation to start the season. Even though I think Hayes plays, it’s still hard for me to see how one of Morris or Burks don’t. They’re both solid and, certainly, would help Detroit be a better team. But it wouldn’t stun me if Williams put Hayes ahead of one of them in a 10-man rotation simply because he’s been healthier and better to date. Williams has used three-guard lineups in the preseason. I think that continues into the regular season.
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How the guard rotation shakes out will be the most fascinating thing to me during the first few games of the regular season. Rookie Marcus Sasser has put his hat in the ring, too, after what he’s done in practice and during his performance against the Thunder.
Buckle up.
Backup frontcourt minutes
This is where things are a bit harder to predict because Isaiah Livers, who suffered a grade 3 ankle sprain just before camp, isn’t expected to be back until the second or third week of the regular season. Prior to learning about his injury, it felt like Livers was a lock to be the backup power forward.
I still think that, when healthy, Livers ends up in the rotation. Even though he hasn’t played a ton through his first two seasons, he’s shown flashes of being a high-IQ player, particularly as a team defender, and he’s a floor spacer — traits that coaches tend to really value.
“He’s a two-way guy,” Williams said of Livers at the start of camp. “He’s smart. He can play with the ball a little bit better than I thought, watching him play pickup before we started training camp. He can make a pocket pass. He knows how to play in (our offensive system). He knows how to do a number of things. He’s smart. He talks on defense. It’s unfortunate that he had an injury because he was having a great summer. He was working on his body. We can’t wait for him to get back because he’s going to add some value to both sides of the ball.”
That endorsement, plus the fact that Livers’ prototype is something Detroit is void of at the moment, makes me believe he’ll be in the rotation when healthy.
Now, on to the backup center spot. Williams said that Marvin Bagley III and James Wiseman are competing for minutes. Bagley was really, really good against the Suns, while Wiseman maybe played his best stretch of basketball as a Piston against the Thunder.
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Ultimately, I think Bagley’s consistency wins out. We all know who he is as a player, what he can do. Wiseman, in my opinion, would have to be significantly better defensively to grab those minutes, and he just hasn’t been there over a consistent stretch.
There are still two games left and several practices, so maybe that changes.
(Photo of Jaden Ivey: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)
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