Svi Mykhailiuk can be a long term option for the Detroit Pistons

Svi Mykhailiuk showed us this season that he’s more than capable of becoming a long term option for a rebuilding Detroit Pistons team.

At the trade deadline of the 2018-2019 season, the Detroit Pistons traded away Reggie Bullock to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and a second round pick.

At the time, anyone who was familiar with his name knew him from his college days with the Kansas Jayhawks. Svi made a name for himself with his consistent perimeter play, but so far hadn’t seen much success (or even playing time) at the next level.

So the direction with this move was clear. Detroit was hoping to add some youth to their team that they could hopefully develop and be part of their playoff push. In the event that they’re forced to rebuild (surprise, it happened!) hopefully Svi could be a glimmer of hope.

The expectation wasn’t that he’d be a star, but rather a reliable scoring option coming off the bench. As the season played out, he never received much time and ultimately wasn’t able to make an impact on the team’s success.

Once the Summer League arrived, Svi was given the chance to showcase his skills, and although he never shined, he certainly looked good. He looked the way you’d hope your second year players would in the Summer League.

To kick off the 2019-2020 season, Svi’s role in the lineup was still insignificant, failing to see the court at all in five of their first six games.

But as injuries slowly began to decimate the Pistons roster, he was forced into a heavily involved role. His minutes slowly began to ramp up in early December, then Luke Kennard went down with bilateral knee tendinitis, and it was Svi’s time to shine.

Starting on December 30th he played a 15 game stretch where he played at least 25 minutes per game, and saw the starting lineup in 11 of those games. He was averaging 14.1 points on 46.1 percent shooting (43.3 percent from three-point range).

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By the time the All-Star break rolled around, he was picked to play in the NBA’s Rising Star’s game playing for the World team.

After the aforementioned stretch however, Svi’s production took a slight dip. It could have been due to him not being acclimated to the usage he was seeing and he was worn out, maybe it was just a cold stretch, we don’t know.

In his final 13 games he averaged just 9.5 points on 34.5 percent shooting (33.3 percent from three) and something about his game was feeling lackluster.

So although he finished the year on a rough note, it’s important for fans to understand that it’s okay that Svi went through that cold stretch.

People too often get swept up in “star potential” which always distorts the vision of what’s actually important. You need role players. Your roster is never going to be top to bottom filled with players scoring 20+ points per game.

Having athletic and versatile wings are crucial if you’re going to win in today’s game, and that’s what the Pistons have with Svi. Someone who can bury you from the perimeter, but can also put the ball on the floor and get to the rim.

He showed us that he’s able to quickly and effectively adapt to a situation on the fly and can immediately contribute whenever he’s needed.

If he can improve defensively and remain a consistent 10-12 points per game scorer, then Detroit is going to be in good shape with him whenever they come out of their rebuild.