Isaiah Stewart, Ausar Thompson and Monte Morris could make surprising contributions for the Pistons next season, James Edwards III of The Athletic opines. Edwards believes Stewart will develop into a solid outside shooter. He also sees Summer League standout Thompson becoming a fan favorite with his overall contributions, while Morris could be the team’s best backup point man in over a decade.
We have more from the Central Division:
- Marcus Sasser, the Pistons’ other first-round pick, overcame his offensive struggles in previous Summer League games with a 40-point, five-assist, zero-turnover performance on Sunday. Sasser will need to continue making shots to stand out in Detroit’s crowded backcourt, according to Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press, but he also displayed good man-to-man defensive skills and could be a two-way factor.
- Bulls second-year guard Dalen Terry admits he had a “tough summer league” but he finished strong, Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic points out. He had 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting, including four 3-pointers, and added five rebounds and four assists in his last game. “Obviously, I haven’t had a great summer league. And, in this game, I just had to forget all about it and just keep going,” Terry said during an ESPN interview.
- The Bucks are operating over the second tax apron when unlikely incentives for Jrue Holiday, Grayson Allen and Khris Middleton are added in, plus A.J. Green‘s contract counts toward the apron as the two-year minimum of $2,019,763 rather the cap sheet hit of $1,901,769. The Athletic’s John Hollinger and Eric Nehm provide a full explanation of the Bucks’ tax apron situation, noting that the only limit placed on Milwaukee this season as a result of being over the second apron is not being able to use the taxpayer mid-level exception.
I hope I’m wrong but I don’t think Terry can play. I’ll be surprised if he makes it 4 seasons.
You are correct about Dalen Terry. Bulls got to keep hoping because they had no draft picks this year, so they got to hope he turns into something.
AK and his draft picks have not worked out for the Bulls. He was supposed to be the guy from Denver who was gonna pull guys out of the draft like Denver. He traded away Lauri Markannen because he thought #4 overall pick Patrick Williams was the next Kawhi Leonard. Wrong! Terry was supposed to develop into this 6’8 perimeter freak. Former #18 overall pick that continues to be best suited to get his minutes in the G-League.
Worse than Dunn.
And their pitfalls are not really that similar.
Dunn has some defensive skill, and as of late has started to shoot the 3 above 30%.
Terry is mostly athleticism, size, and promise.
Terry is still young enough to develop late like Dunn may have (we’ll see next season) but you’re right he is a G-leaguer, and has not shown anything other than that.
Bulls need to deal him at the deadline so it’s not a total loss.
Let me get this straight …. An NBA beat writer just wrote that one of the “surprises” this year for the Pistons will be the contributions made by Monte Morris off the bench.
Why would it be a surprise that Morris, who has been good as a starter, as well as a reserve with Denver and Washington, would be a good player off the bench for what might be the worst team in the NBA??
Biggest problem the Pistons may face is the fact that the offense may run most efficiently with the ball in the hands of Morris, and not Cade Cunningham.
The lineup below would win more games than substituting in Cunningham and Jaden Ivey for Morris and Burks. Morris and Burks can also make jump shots which will allow Detroit to maximize Ausar Thompson, who may already elevate the play of his teammates with his passing more than what Cunningham does.
Monte Morris
Alec Burks
Ausar Thompson
Isaiah Stewart
Jalen Duren
I don’t know what the Pistons are doing.
Good thing next season is a carnie-circus with the mid-season tournament… Pistons won’t stand out so much amongst the chaos.
Talk about a rebuild gone wromg. if everything goes right this team wins 35 games and competes for the right to get swept our of the playoffs by the one seed.
Idk why the Pistons made the moves they have…
Figure out what you actually have in Wiseman, Duren, MB3, Ausar, Ivey, and Cade.
Get rid of the excess. Ship Bogdan, Burks, Morris, Hayes, Harris, and Stewart out between now and the TD. Get far dated picks back. Get your own pick back from the Knicks. No one is signing in Detroit, so who cares about your cap space, stay below the tax and you’re fine.
They could use a prospect at PF. MB3 likely isn’t going to be that guy. Stewart… I mean he’s a role player – Royce O’Neale, DFS type. At 15M that’s pretty steep unless he ends up being a 37-38% 3pt shooter and gets you 13 or 15 pts and 8 boards. If others coveted him, use that as an opportunity to sell.
I would think they try to not blatantly tank for Matas. Ron Holland would be a great fit for them. Mgbako also would look good. No real dominant looking PF in this draft class tho, which lends me to think they’ll run w/ Stewart through this season.
The Pistons appear to have a lot of young talent and no direction whatsoever. I’M Not certain they have a clearly defined role for anyone on the roster. Apparently they are waffling over what to do with Cunningham. Otherwise why would they be stockpiling traditional point guards? They also appear to be uncertain about what direction to go at the 4 and 5 spots. That said things will probably change when Williams gets to see what he has. Early on they won’t win very often. They’ll find direction later if they can stay healthy.
Last season was a lost one without their number one pick. Pistons just kicked the can down the road one more year. We still don’t know who Cade will be. Apparently his shin has been bothering him since high school so it’s likely we’ve never seen Cade’s final form.
I’m for them kind of feeling things out while we figure out what Cade can become and what lineup fits best around him.
The Pistons have two teams is the problem. They are aiming to win 30 plus games. Hence the veterans edge they have built up.
That edge is going to chop to much the minutes for the young guys to play with those veterans far to much. This means they will not gain any confidence or grow because of it.