We’re a week into training camp, but more like a month into the evaluation process. Over the past decade or so, the reality is that a healthy number of most teams’ players set up base at the training facility right after Labor Day and group workouts commence.
The Players Association sets up safeguards so that coaches can only interact so much and in smaller numbers at a time than the whole roster, but those workouts almost always finish with full-court scrimmages that coaches can monitor if not direct.
So Monty Williams wasn’t starting from chapter one when he blew the whistle on his first official Pistons practice last Tuesday. And when he proclaimed on Wednesday that Marvin Bagley III and James Wiseman were, in all likelihood, competing for the backup center position, he wasn’t saying that based only on the three practices he’d seen to date.
So we can extrapolate from the first week of camp and Sunday’s preseason opener with a little more certainty than might otherwise seem warranted.
And here, based on what we saw Sunday and what Williams and Pistons players have said over the past week, are a few observations and projections:
- The Pistons used a lot of three-guard lineups against Phoenix. The lines become more blurred every season regarding positions, but in Sunday’s second quarter Williams had a lineup of Killian Hayes, Jaden Ivey, Joe Harris and Ausar Thompson surrounding James Wiseman and then had Marcus Sasser enter for Thompson which would have made the power forward … Joe Harris? Yup. Joe Harris. Which, at that point, we’re just dealing with semantics. There will be times the Pistons play with one big man and four perimeter players. Cade Cunningham’s size – and, yes, the talk of his added bulk and strength seems real – allows the Pistons to use three guards a ton. But they might be inclined to use three guards plenty even when Cunningham is off the floor.
- Then again, Bojan Bogdanovic and Isaiah Livers were missing and it seems safe to expect both will be in the rotation. Bogdanovic certainly will be. Williams said over the weekend the Pistons were being cautious with Bogdanovic’s calf injury given his history, so he’s expected back before Livers, who probably will miss all of October at minimum. But the way Williams spoke of Livers last week made it sound like he, too, will have a role. “He’s a two-way guy, smart. He can play with the ball a bit bitter than I thought watching him play pickup before we started training camp.” (See what we mean about the evaluation process?) “He can make the pocket pass. He knows how to play in point-five (as it relates to making a decision to pass, shoot or dribble in one-half second). He does a number of things well and he’s smart, talks on defense. It’s unfortunate he had an injury because he was just having a great summer, working on his body. We can’t wait to get him back because he’s going to add some value to both sides of the ball.” Yeah, that sounds like Livers is squarely in the mix.
- Another player Williams consistently brought up unprompted in the first week was Killian Hayes and Hayes on Sunday looked much closer to the player who played like the seventh pick in the 2020 draft over a 20-game stretch last November/December than the guy who struggled with his shot before and after that interlude. If Hayes can find his niche offensively and start hitting something closer to 33 percent from three and 45 percent overall, the rest of the package will make him a valuable player. He made the most of his 21 minutes on Sunday with 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting, highlighted by strong finishes at the rim in contrast to his struggles there previously, plus seven assists and five steals. Hayes’ size, like Cunningham, allows him to play with multiple other guards.
- Won’t say whole lot more about Ausar Thompson than what we posted Monday, but want to touch on his rebounding a little – he had 10 in his debut after averaging 10 over four Summer League games – and the impact that can have. Because Thompson can comfortably defend at least one through four and rebound so effectively, Williams can tinker with a tremendous variety of lineup combinations. And it’s going to be fun to watch Thompson grab defensive rebounds and lead the fast break, where his speed, vision and passing instincts could evolve into a major weapon.
- And this on Thompson, so maybe we do have more to say. About his defense, I asked Monty Williams last week if – once Thompson gets up to speed and gets at least a little familiar with NBA personnel and terminology becomes instinctive for him – he’s a guy who allows you to do what you do on defense at a higher level or if he’s a guy who allows you to consider expanding what you do at that end: “I think so. We’re not sure what he’s going to be, but he has every tool to be that. We feel like he will be one of the best defensive players in the league someday, but there’s a lot to learn. … But I have seen elite perimeter defenders allow for you to do some different things. I had Mikal Bridges and Mikal enhanced our defense and then he allowed other guys to not have to expend that kind of energy on the defensive end. Those are the kind of things that allow for you as a coach to do some different things and it could be something as simple as guarding 94 feet just to take time off the clock. For us to take the jump defensively, we’re going to need those kinds of contributions.”
- Marvin Bagley III spoke at some length on media day about reflecting over the off-season on the mental aspects of the game and his desire to be a better teammate, friend and partner in all aspects of his life. I raise that because Monty Williams commented after Sunday’s game how impressed he was that Bagley – after not playing in the first half – changed the game by scoring 25 points in 22 second-half/overtime minutes despite giving everyone a half a game’s head start. Bagley was the No. 2 pick for a reason. He’s a naturally gifted scorer and an instinctive lob threat. String performances like that one together and a second unit already rife with intrigue and promise gets that much more intriguing and promising.