The 2021-22 season was all about player development for Dwane Casey and the Detroit Pistons and the young guys were given plenty of chances to shine.
The Pistons were led in total minutes by Saddiq Bey, Cade Cunningham, Isaiah Stewart and Killian Hayes, with Cory Joseph the only veteran to crack the top-5 in minutes played.
The Pistons were in a position to be patient, allow their young guys to make mistakes and play though the inevitable challenges and slumps young players face.
It worked out, as just about every young player on the Detroit Pistons got better this season, and those that didn’t were still given plenty of chances to do so.
Here are Dwane Casey’s player development grades for each young player.
Detroit Pistons: Player development grades for Dwane Casey
The G-leaguers and bench
Luka Garza: B
Even though Garza didn’t improve much or ease any of the concerns the Pistons had about his defense, I have to give Dwane Casey credit for getting him into 32 games this season, far more than I would have expected.
The Pistons have a team option on Garza for next season and I don’t think they will exercise it, but they gave the rookie a chance.
One of the important dates to watch is June 28th, which is the day the Pistons have to decide if they will exercise options on Garza, Hamidou Diallo and Frank Jackson.
Saben Lee: C-
It’s possible the Pistons have given up on Saben Lee, as he actually played less this season than in his rookie year and Detroit signed Carsen Edwards late in the season to compete with him.
Lee dominated the G-League but hasn’t improved much at the NBA level, which was somewhat disappointing. Dwane Casey can’t magically make a player better, but I didn’t think the Pistons gave Lee much of a chance this season. He was never going to beat out Cory Joseph, as CoJo is simply better at this point in their respective careers, but I thought Lee should have gotten more run anyway considering the context of this season.
In the end, Lee probably isn’t part of the long-term plans and that’s fine, but it would have been nice too see a bit more of him.
Isaiah Livers: A
I thought the Pistons showed a great deal of patience with Livers, letting him take most of the season to get healthy without jeopardizing his chance of being part of the rotation.
Once he got in there, Livers played well and didn’t look like a guy who had missed most of his rookie season. Casey and his staff deserve credit for keeping Livers confident and having him ready to go once he was healthy.
He looks like a lock for the rotation next season and Detroit did well to bring him back slowly while keeping him prepared mentally.