Player development grades for Dwane Casey and the Pistons

Detroit Pistons: Player development grades for Dwane Casey

The Guards

Dwane Casey’s most important task this season was the development of the Pistons’ two guards, particularly number one pick Cade Cunningham. Some fans were worried that the Pistons would try to move Cunningham off the ball and not take full advantage of his versatile game, but that didn’t happen and I thought the two guards was where Dwane Casey really shined.

Killian Hayes: B+

If you just look at Hayes’ raw stats you’d probably go lower here, as he put up nearly identical numbers to last season and actually shot a lower percentage than in his rookie year.

The reason the grade is this high is that coach Casey allowed Killian to play through his troubles, kept encouraging him to be aggressive, and you saw Hayes’ confidence really start to build as the season went on.

People need to remember that this kid is 20-years-old and came into the league with some flaws that we knew were going to take time. It would have been easy for Casey to bench Killian Hayes at a low point in the season, or for the Pistons to send him to the G-League.

But they didn’t and it started to pay off, as Hayes was playing more confidently offensively and really showed himself to be a potential star on the defensive end. He may not have the ceiling of Marcus Smart defensively, but he can be that type of player for the Pistons and I have to give Casey credit for sticking with him this season and putting him in situations to find small successes that build confidence.

I am excited to see how Hayes looks next season and wouldn’t rule out a big leap for him after the way he finished this one.

Cade Cunningham: A

The best thing Dwane Casey did for Cade Cunningham was to just step aside and let him do his thing. There was some concern that the Pistons were going to use Killian Hayes as the primary ball handler and try to play Cade off the ball.

Fans worried about Cade standing in the corner and watching when he should be the one initiating the offense. That never happened, and Cade not only led the Pistons in usage rating but led all rookies as well.

This was especially true after Jerami Grant went out with injury, as it really became Cade’s team. I thought the Pistons did a great job of allowing Cade to take over in late game situations, letting him play through his turnover woes, and never wavering in their confidence that he was the guy.

They were careful enough with some minor injuries to ensure that he got plenty of games, but didn’t rush him back or take unnecessary risks.

Cade continued to improve as the season went on, putting up a month of March that few rookies in the history of the league have matched. He just kept getting better, mostly because he is very good, but also because coach Casey gave him plenty of room to grow, make mistakes and learn from them.

You can argue about Dwane Casey’s rotations and play calling, but it’s hard to deny that he did a great job developing the young guys this season.

He took individualized approaches to each guy that resulted in improvement, showing that he is a smart coach who knows how to get the most out of his players.