Svi Mykhailiuk: Not a Pistons season review

Where he is

Many call him a poor man’s Klay Thompson. I would call him a middle-class Joe Harris, which may or may not be the same thing.

His offensive versatility is vast. Mykhailiuk has worked his game to a point where he can make every shot in the book. He is a more than reliable option off the ball. If he’s open behind the arc you can be confident he’s going to make it. And it doesn’t stop there.

He sets his feet quickly before the shot and has a quick repeatable trigger. He has no problem repeating the same motion coming off screens in any directions. He doesn’t need much space to get his shot off and can shoot from deep range.

Moving without the ball is a big part of his game. He knows all the gimmicks to get separation and consistently makes the right reads on how to navigate between the screeners. He’ll cut back door when they deny him the ball, he can set a screen and pop out to the 3-point line or cut to the basket.

When defenders close out on him he splits his feet into a scissor stance before he catches the ball, allowing him to get by his defender with ease. He has a solid first step to go along with his footwork, so he can punish defenders that overplay.

With his defender trailing, more often than not he’ll make the correct read. When he has space in front of him he can explode for an over-the-rim finish. Against length, he struggles, but he has the handle to get into all shorts of pull-ups and floaters. His step back is a reliable weapon as well.

He has a solid vision and passing ability to make the simple pass. He was nutmegging people and throwing all sorts of difficult passes both in the Summer League and the G-League. That goes to show the potential he has as a passer.

“Detroit Pistons swingman Svi Mykhailiuk could have future at point guard“, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press writes:

"Pistons coach Dwane Casey told reporters recently there could be more. In his discussions with the coaching staff with the Gatorade League affiliate in Grand Rapids, where Mykhailiuk has had several stints, there is a belief he could develop into a point guard. Mykhailiuk, who played four seasons at Kansas, said he has played point guard in the past. And he understands how at 6-feet-8, his size could be an advantage."

It seems that the coaching staff has seen enough to believe in his playmaking capabilities and we could see that the experiment take place as soon as the Summer League. I don’t think we’ll ever see him running point with the Detroit  Pistons, but if he shows that he can operate effectively in pick and roll situations, he raises his value significantly.