Why was Braxton Key playing for Pistons and not Cruise?

Braxton Key was playing for the Detroit Pistons against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night. The Motor City Cruise had a playoff game the same night. Even though Key is on a two-way deal, which is supposed to be for top G-League players, Detroit preferred he play in a meaningless NBA game. Why?

On April 8, there were two professional basketball games being played in Detroit. One had no  benefit to the Detroit team if they won, actually, they were better off if they lost. The other was the biggest game in franchise history.

For some reason, Braxton Key played in the game that meant nothing.

Key, a 6-foot-8 forward and sometime small ball center, has done well playing for the Pistons since signing a 10-day deal on March 24. So well that Detroit waived the injured Chris Smith to make room to give Key a two-way contract.

Following Friday’s game with the Bucks, Key is averaging 8.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in eight games for Detroit.

In no way are we knocking Key. The guy plays hard, plays tough, and does not back down, even when he has to guard much bigger players – the kind of player Detroit fans love. And he can do this:

Key is certainly a player who has earned a close look for the roster of the Pistons next season. He undoubtedly will be playing for Detroit in summer league.

But the weird part is, a two-way contract means a player is affiliated with a team’s G-League team, and has a limited amount of days they can be in the NBA (although, with the pandemic causing player shortages, that limit was lifted the past two years).

Yet Key was playing for the Pistons on Friday instead of with the Cruise in the G-League playoffs against the Delaware Blue Coats. The Cruise lost, 122-114, to end their season.

Ironically, Key played for the Blue Coats, averaging 18.9 points, before he signed with Detroit.  Key finished third in G-League Defensive Player of the Year voting based on his play for Delaware.

It might have been neat to have Key play against his former team in a playoff game. But Key was at Little Caesars Arena battling Giannis rather than at Wayne State in a playoff game.

Detroit Pistons: So why wasn’t Braxton Key playing in the Motor City Cruise’s playoff game?

With any win by the Pistons at this point doing nothing except possibly damaging their draft position, there was no need for Detroit to go all-out to win that game (which Milwaukee won easily). Key has not played for the Cruise since he came to Detroit, but to give the younger players some confidence, and additional playing time, the G-League playoffs would seem to be a higher priority, and Key might have made a difference in that game.

Yes, Key came here to play in the NBA, but this was a special situation. Luka Garza and Saben Lee  have NBA full contracts, and they were playing for the Cruise.

So what can be read  into this? Probably good news for Key.

That Pistons coach Dwane Casey was putting him into action against the defending NBA champions shows he has confidence in Key’s ability, or at least wanted to take a long look at him against one of the elite team’s in the league.

Detroit is short on available players but, heck, the Oklahoma City Thunder played just six players in their last game. If the Pistons organization wanted Key to be with the G-League team for a game, he would have been. at Wayne State.

Key is 25-years-old, so he is not some kid who needs seasoning. Even though his contract said he could be with the Cruise in a playoff, he has played exclusively with the Pistons, which means they probably have plans for him.