3 takeaways from the Detroit Pistons 125-113 loss to Toronto Raptors

3. We might see more Svi Mykhailiuk

With the game well out of hand with the Pistons down by 21 points, Casey brought Svi Mykhailiuk off the bench for the first time this year for the last eight and a half minutes of the game. But this wasn’t simply garbage time minutes because he joined a lineup of Drummond, Brown, Kennard, and Morris.

With a game that far out of reach, one would imagine that the Pistons would empty the bench. Yet, Casey kept in some of the starters in to play alongside Mykhailiuk until the final minutes. Drummond, who played 35 minutes in this game, didn’t need to be out there trying to mount a comeback with the game well in hand.

So why did Casey keep Drummond out there?

Perhaps Casey wanted to see Mykhailiuk get some playing time in a situation where he can evaluate the young wing alongside the Pistons’ key contributors. The Pistons have obviously been looking for some shooting, which Mykhailiuk can provide a lot of as evidenced by making three of his four attempts from deep.

The question comes on the defensive end, where Mykhailiuk didn’t look awful. He even drew a charge on Anunoby. Perhaps Casey wanted to see how Mykhailiuk would fare as he is desperately searching for answers with his two key starters out.

With the Pistons defense giving up 125 points on nearly 60 percent shooting, the young shooter could provide some spacing and points to a Pistons’ team in desperate need of solutions.