It sure looks as if Jaden Ivey has taken a back seat a bit in the pecking order in Detroit to Ausar Thompson and Killiam Hayes by Monty Williams. He struggled during preseason, made his 6th man debut the final preseason game against the Thunder and played out of control and was more of the same last night against Miami. Going 200 MPH, pressing the issue, and playing like he had something to prove. Troy Weaver said not to take much out of Ivey coming off the bench—that Harden had done it during his time in OKC, but clearly this is an adjustment for the young man that make take a while for him to acclimate to.
James Wiseman wasn’t horrendous during the preseason but he wasn’t good enough to win the backup C job against Marvin Bagley. Both players were more or less playing for their careers and Wiseman showed the same defensive lapses as usual. Late on rotations and weak lower body. Beef Stew as a small ball C is also ahead of Wiseman in the C depth chart so it seems he will need injury to get back into Detroit’s plans. He was not extended by the Pistons and with his cap hold of $15M seems likely to be renounced this offseason at this current time, but plans absolutely could change for him.
What do you all as a community envision for these two young players going forward this season…how do you think their roles and seasons will play out…and how much relevancy do you think it has to their futures in Detroit? You can add Killian Hayes to this discussion as well.
It’s best for Ivey to come off until he cleans up his mistakes. Not really worried about him. Wiseman is about to be out of the league
Ivey’s defense is so ass that he isn’t gonna get more minutes unless he improves, which I think is Monty’s hope.