Lineup questions abound just week before opener
Pistons likely to see more players in remaining contests
Training camp and preseason has been an evaluation period for Monty Williams, who’s adjusting to coaching a brand new — and young — Detroit Pistons roster. He has toyed with lineups during games and put players through the ringer in practice, getting a feel for their comfort level and readiness.
A week before the season tips off, Williams is still missing a lot of data about the team. The Pistons have been without five rotation players — Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Bojan Bogdanovic, Monte Morris and Isaiah Livers — for part or all of camp so far. It makes it tougher to peg what their opening night rotation will look like.
We should have a better idea after the Pistons finish preseason, though. Despite those five players missing last Thursday’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Montreal, the team will be healthier when they close out their exhibition slate on the road against the Thunder on Thursday and Dallas Mavericks on Friday.
It still may not be enough for Williams to feel entirely comfortable when the Pistons travel to Miami to open the season against the Heat next week. But we’re about to learn a lot more about his pecking order, and what roles he has in mind for the roster.
“I don’t think anybody anymore goes into opening night feeling like they have to have all the answers,” Williams said. “There’s times where you can’t figure out your team until 10, 20 games into the season. You’re still trying to win every game until you do that, but I think there are teams in the league, the top teams, they’ve got it down. There’s about 15 of us that are still in a position where it’s like, we need some time to make sure we’re seeing what we need to see. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, especially when you have a new team like ours.”
Several players appear to be trending in the right direction. Cunningham, who missed last Thursday’s game with left quad tendinitis, scrimmaged during practice on Monday. Williams
said that Duren, who suffered a right ankle sprain in their home opener, would’ve played last Thursday had it been a game with higher stakes.
Bogdanovic (right calf strain), Morris (lower back spasms) and Livers (left ankle sprain) have yet to make their preseason debuts, though. Bogdanovic will likely join Cunningham and Duren in the starting lineup once healthy. The team announced that Bogdanovic would be reevaluated in a week after his injury was announced on Oct. 7, but his status hasn’t been updated yet.
As one of the Pistons’ best offensive players, Bogdanovic is one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle. The 34-year-old forward averaged a career-best 21.6 points last season while shooting 48.8% overall — also a career-high — and 41.1% from 3. His absence has been felt, as he provides necessary spacing and experience to the first unit.
“You think about his skillset, there’s not much he can’t do,” Williams said of Bogdanovic. “He can shoot it, he can score off the dribble, he can play pick and roll, post up some guards and some guys his size. The spacing that he brings to the table is something I value in a guy that can just stand on the floor. You gotta have
somebody like two feet away from him every play. We’re looking forward to getting him back, because we think it’s going to help our offense from a spacing perspective, the shooting profile goes up. And I bet those guys love playing with him, he’s a competitor.”
Morris was spotted jogging up and down the sideline and taking jumpers before the Pistons’ open practice on Sunday. His absence has given Killian Hayes — arguably Detroit’s best performer through two games — an opportunity to show he belongs in the rotation. But Morris’ resume speaks for itself, presenting Williams a tough decision to make as he whittles down his guard rotation.
The Flint native is a career 39.2% 3-point shooter and is among the NBA’s best at taking care of the ball. Last season with the Washington Wizards, he averaged 5.3 assists against just one turnover per game. For his career, he has nearly as many steals (264) as turnovers (278). He fills multiple needs on this roster. The only question is when he’ll be back on the floor.
“Having Monte and Killian, Killian is a guy that can make plays, plays both ends, but in particular Monte is a guy who has a historical body of work to be able to play with the ball and off the ball,” Williams said. “In Denver he played off of it more because of (Nikola) Jokic. “Last year, they played him as a primary ballhandler. He’s a guy that understands how to play. He can settle the best when things are getting a little out of hand. I think he can do that.
“I’ve always wondered why he was a low turnover guy,” he continued. “He’s not a lob guy, he doesn’t take a lot of risks and he’s smart. He understands where to and how to make things happen. It’s a part of his DNA. I remember in college he was really good in assist to turnover ratio. Then he gets to the league and he’s still one of those guys that can be efficient with the ball. There has to be something there that he does that allows for him to still be in that category.”
Of the five, Livers is the only one that we know for sure will miss Detroit’s regular season opener. His injury will keep him out until midNovember, at least. But Williams has high expectations for the Michigan alumnus, noting that his intelligence and two-way ability stood out during training camp.
Williams’ rotation is slowly falling into place. But there are questions that won’t be resolved for another month.
“He can play with the ball better than I thought, watching him play pickup before we started training camp,” Williams said of Livers. “He can make a pocket pass, he knows how to play in 0.5. He does a number of things well and he’s smart. Talks on defense. It’s unfortunate that he had an injury, because he was having a great summer. He’s been working on his body. We can’t wait to get him back because he’s gonna add some value to both sides of the ball.”