The Pistons finally got some good news on the injury front. Key reserve Alec Burks returned on Sunday against Chicago after missing six games with a forearm injury. Jaden Ivey was also back in action after missing four games due to a viral infection.
Coach Monty Williams was pleased to have more answers on his bench, Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press tweets.
“It helps settle the rotation down a bit,” Williams said. “You don’t have to stress guys out with long stretches of minutes. And then having the shooting out there, and AB’s IQ and calm demeanor, certainly helps.”
Burks, who scored 16 points in the loss to the Bulls, is on an expiring contract and could be a key trade piece.
We have more on the Pistons:
- Second-year center Jalen Duren has been in and out of the lineup recently due to bilateral ankle soreness. He was unable to finish Friday’s game against Philadelphia. Williams didn’t have a timeline for Duren’s return when he spoke to the media on Sunday, Sankofa tweets. “We’ll see how he responds to the treatment, all that stuff,” Williams said. “I don’t want to speculate on how long. We just don’t wanna put him back out there again, and he plays a short stint and comes out again. We just want to be really careful.”
- Detroit has now lost eight straight, but Williams wouldn’t use injuries — Bojan Bogdanovic, Monte Morris, Isaiah Livers haven’t played this season and Joe Harris is also sidelined — as an excuse for the team’s record, Sankofa writes. “Not gonna happen,” Williams said. “We can throw that out the window. We’ve shown that we can play against anybody. We have to sustain it. Everybody we put on the floor is trained to produce and be productive for four quarters. We’re not doing that. We’re not gonna blame anything on injuries.”
- Kevin Knox is back with the Pistons on a one-year deal. Knox, who was traded by Detroit to Portland prior to last year’s deadline, told Mike Curtis of The Detroit News he’s thrilled to get a second stint with the Pistons. Knox also relayed the message that GM Troy Weaver gave him. “He just told me what they wanted from me,” Knox said. “They need a lot of shooting and playing hard on defense. Just fitting in with the guys. You got a young team, got a couple of older guys a little banged up but he just told me I have to come in and play my game and play hard.”
- Knox scored a team-high 18 points off the bench on Sunday in his first game since he was signed. “It wasn’t just his offense. His defense was sound for someone who hasn’t been in our program,” Williams said via another Sankofa tweet.
They should trade wiseman and get anything
Can’t blame Monte for taking the absurd amount of money Detroit gave him, but this team is going nowhere the next few years. Failed rebuild. Should have signed FVF and hired Udoka
That’d would’ve been a dumb move, they’ve got Cade, Ivey, Thompson and Duren. That’s a good core to build around. Three seasons is way too soon to say they’ve failed their rebuild. The Thunder are in season five and it just started to come together last season. Why waste the salary cap space on VanVleet when you’re still rebuilding? That wouldn’t have made them any better.
As far as Udoka vs Williams, they’re a wash….meh doesn’t matter, neither will be the coach when this team’s ready.
They need to do a rebuild based on the defensive identity that Monty wants the team to have.
Put the ball in Ausar Thompson’s hands and let him make plays on both ends like he has been doing. Duren is a keeper inside. Marcus Sasser can play next to Thompson.
Trade Cade while his value is still high. His value plummets if he is not on the ball. However, he just isn’t efficient enough as a scorer to be a guy like that. Thompson is a better rebounder and passer already. Might be the better scorer too. Cade has enough value left that you can bring back pieces and assets that fit with your core of Thompson, Sasser and Duren.
Killian Hayes is surprising serviceable right now. Ivey doesn’t look like he is gonna work out. Bagley and Wiseman are just wastes.
Ah yes, eleven games is enough to completely flip the team’s strategy and give up on half their young core. Especially when several key pieces including last season’s leading scorer are injured.
Also, while Cade is inefficient, it’s kind of inevitable given that A) he doesn’t have much help, so he’s getting doubled and guarded by the toughest opposing wings at all times, B) he missed almost the entirety of last season, and C) most of his teammates are equally young and inexperienced. He’s also been great at contesting 3s this season.
Thompson is better at rebounding and defense because A) he’s on the wing, not at the point, and B) his offensive responsibilities are lesser. Also, Cade is attracting most of the defensive attention. Ausar is still shooting 40% from the field and *15%* from 3 despite that. He’s also not better at passing than Cade. Their teammates assisted FG%s are higher when Cade is passing, and their A/T ratios are almost identical (1.41 for Cad to 1.45 for Thompson).
Bagley has been solid this season. He looks like a quality backup big nowadays. Opponents are shooting 45% at the rim against him, which is almost fifteen percentage points below the league average. Small sample? Maybe, but that’s still up by the league leaders relative to his minutes. He’s also aggressively attacking the rim on offense and finishing through contact better than in previous seasons. The FT% might be fluky, but it’s still a good sign also.
Hayes, meanwhile, only looks solid if you look at his surface stats and not his percentages. He’s still almost identical to last season. His passing has become slightly more consistent, but that’s only because Cade is there, taking up most of the defensive attention.
Clearly you haven’t watched the games. About the only thing that you were right about is that Wiseman is garbage.
Ausar Thompson is at his best when the ball is in his hands and not on the wing. His shooting percentage will go much higher as the decision-maker. Watch how fast this kid figures out how to get a bucket and/or a foul when he needs to at the rim.
If you are going to build a team with a defensive identity it doesn’t work if your “superstar” cannot score efficiently, and isn’t a lockdown defender. His lack of a jumper makes it hard to put him off the ball. Rather than try and force everything through a square peg with Cade …. Move on and keep building with the remaining solid pieces. Thompson, and playing to his strengths is a much easier path to building a team around somebody. See if the Rockets will send you back Jabari Smith, Tari Eason and picks. That is a great start.
Killian Hayes being serviceable doesn’t mean he is a starter. However, he is right now showing an ability to provide rotation minutes. He made a bit of a jump. Rebuilding is about taking chances on a guy and seeing if he is a future piece.
Thompson’s IQ is very promising, as are his physical gifts. Doesn’t change that he’s rawer than fresh sushi and often looks like he has no idea what to do without the ball and tries to do too much with it. The reason his FG% is so low he because he forces a fair number of unnecessary shots when he doesn’t have to.
That’s a ludicrous trade suggestion. “Let’s trade this guy who we don’t think has figured it out for two guys have clearly figured it out AND picks!” This isn’t 2K.
Cade also has a jumper. He hits 40% of his open threes and 36% of his catch-and-shoot attempts. He also has a solid midrange pullup. He can play off the ball much more easily than you’re willing to give him credit for. His problem is that the defenses of opposing teams are just piling on him because he has zero help right now. He’s capable of having effecient performances with the rest of the team isn’t sucking. The more concerning thing is his turnover problem, but nobody else besides Hayes, who can pretty much *only* pass at an above-average level and nothing else, is better on the Pistons. Turnovers are going to plague this team as long as guys are young and not figuring out their roles. As it is with pretty much every rebuild ever.
Hayes isn’t even serviceable. Weak jumper, weak spacing, weak off-ball movement, weak cutting ability. He can only pass and defend smaller guards, and he’s unexceptional in both regards. That’s not good enough to stick in the NBA. Maybe he can grow more, but I think this is just who he is at this point. If he can be traded to a guard-needy team for some seconds or a raw prospect, that’s a win.
Trade Wiseman to Memphis, Spurs, Washington or Orlando. Bagley to Memphis. Trade Ivey and Hayes to NOP for Hawkins and RJ Liddel. Trade Bojan B, Liddel and some 1st for Jabari Smith jr and Victor O. Waive Victor.
The defensive possibilities with Ausar Thompson, Jabari Smith, Tari Eason, Marcus Sasser and Jalen Duren would be insane.
You would have a wealth of picks and dudes on rookie deals. All you need to add is a scorer. It can be a veteran who just gets buckets. You have the cap space to sign, or get involved in a trade. Maybe you find your walking bucket in the draft. You would have most of the pieces you were looking for. You would have a team built in the identity of the head coach who you gave a monster $$$ and years contract to.
It would be a much faster road to actually playing a playoff game again that building around Cade. I think Cade is a good player, but he isn’t a guy you build a team around.
Why all the interest in Jabari Smith? Isn’t he a foundational piece in Houston? Or is this an exercise in who we like, regardless of availability? Like, Brandon Ingram would be a nice fit. Ooh, or let’s get Jayson Tatum! Somebody tell Weaver he should get Tatum! Why hasn’t he done this yet??
It is a exercise on who I like yes, I think Smith jr, Paolo and Hendricks are the best up and coming PFs out there. Smith jr is young like the same age as all the pistons, he would fit perfectly there. Houston has no clue in what they are doing. I sense your sarcasm, I think Ingram would be great in NY. We all know Tatum is untouchable.