The Detroit Pistons have been cellar dwellers in the NBA for the last four seasons. While the losing has been difficult to endure, the one positive to come out of all of it is that they have been picked near the top of the NBA Draft.
That has given them an impressive young core of players to build around in their rebuild. While there have been some misses, such as Sekou Doumbouya and seemingly Killian Hayes, the team has found some building blocks.
Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart, Isaiah Livers, and Jaden Ivey have all been selected in the last two years. This year, the team added another highly touted prospect to the mix in Ausar Thompson at No. 5 in the 2023 NBA Draft.
With so much young talent on the roster, head coach Monty Williams is going to have some difficult decisions to make. There is already one training camp battle going on, as Marvin Bagley III and James Wiseman, No. 2 overall picks in their respective draft years, are attempting to earn a spot in the team’s rotation off the bench.
Could a surprise player be joining one of them on the second unit this season? As shared by James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, there is a chance that Ivey will be moved to the bench this season.
Ivey has yet to start a game this preseason, which normally isn’t too concerning as coaches are mixing and matching lineup combinations to see what will work in the regular season. But, one of those games came without Cunningham in the lineup, which leads people to believe that the switch to the bench could be a permanent one once the games start to count.
This could be Williams getting Ivey accustomed to a role he likely hasn’t done much in his life, which is coming off the bench. Thompson looks to be the favorite to start in the backcourt alongside Cunningham with Bojan Bogdanovic, Stewart, and Duren.
With an emphasis on defense this offseason, Thompson is a natural fit in the starting five over Ivey. He has performed excellently on that side of the ball to this point and will boost the team’s performance.
Ivey is certainly one of the most talented players on the team, but Williams is looking for the best fit in his lineup. Having the Purdue product come off the bench should lean more into his strengths as the ball will be in his hands more with the second unit compared to the first.
Things can always change, especially if the Pistons get off to a slow start, but for now, it looks like the No. 4 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft will start his second season in the league coming off the bench.
More must-reads: