How the Detroit Pistons are addressing last season’s 3-point shooting woes
Find playing time for Khyri Thomas
Khyri Thomas spent the majority of his rookie season with the Pistons keeping the bench warm.
Maybe when he did find the time on the floor Thomas made the most of it and flashed potential for the future, similar to what Bullock did in the early stages of his Piston tenure? That would be incorrect as Thomas put up pretty putrid rookie season averages getting only 2.3 points per game shooting a horrid 28.6 percent from three (26 games played; 7.5 minutes per game).
So how is it possible that this guy can help the Pistons improve their shooting this upcoming season you ask? The answer lies in his promising performances with the Pistons g-league affiliate the Grand Rapids Drive.
Thomas did not play many games with the Pistons, however he did suit up and play on numerous occasions for the Drive. In 10 games with an average of 32 minutes played per game, Thomas was able to notch 20.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. What makes this stat line even more impressive is when you look at his percentages he shot 53.5 percent from the field and a piping hot 46 percent from three.
Sure these numbers are a bit inflated due to the lower level of competition. At the NBA level Thomas will get less touches and defenses will close out faster making it harder to make shots, but good players perform well against lower level competition and Thomas more than showed that he has game!
Now that Thomas is approaching his second year as an NBA player and the jitters of the rookie season are over, I would hope that he can find his way onto the court for the Pistons sooner rather than later. He has the potential to be a steal for the Pistons on a cheap contract given his second round draft status.