Stan Van Gundy sees larger role for Henry Ellenson
Stan Van Gundy is high on Henry Ellenson, so much so that he could move some players around this offseason to get him more minutes.
Henry Ellenson essentially had his NBA debut in Houston on Friday night, with his first real action.
But with Jon Leuer, Marcus Morris, and Tobias Harris in the mix, what is his role moving forward?
According to Van Gundy, the Pistons’ plan revolves around how much Ellenson improves.
"When Stan Van Gundy said before Friday’s game that his decision to play Boban Marjanovic and Henry Ellenson over the final four games was driven by his optimism that both “can be real contributors next year,” it was pretty easy to spot Marjanovic’s path to playing time.But there’s no clear path for Ellenson to find a foothold in the rotation, not with all three of Van Gundy’s primary forwards – Marcus Morris, Tobias Harris and Jon Leuer – under multiyear contracts.It’s always possible one is used in trade to address other needs over the off-season, of course, but Van Gundy – without giving away any details – figures it will work itself out.“I think that there will be ways we can do that,” Van Gundy said. “And a lot of it will just depend on how far (Ellenson) comes.”"
Van Gundy’s comments speak to his confidence in Ellenson. Ellenson has kept his nose to the ground and kept improving this season. He absolutely has shown he has ability and the combination of the aforementioned components have got to have Van Gundy excited.
The question moving forward is how much stock do you put into these last few games, one way or the other, in regards to forming offseason plans.
If Ellenson takes the NBA by storm and averages 15 and 10, do the Pistons view that as his floor for next season and move on from one of Leuer, Harris, or Morris?
If he stinks for the remainder of the season do they keep all of their assets, regardless of where they think Ellenson will eventually be?
Next: What did you think of Henry Ellenson's debut performance?
The answer probably depends on what the Pistons can get for their assets in return, though I think there’s value in carving out a defined role for Ellenson next year–after all, you can only improve so much without getting consistent NBA minutes.