Detroit Pistons: Some Summer League disappointments

Summer League is over for the Detroit Pistons and there were some bright spots as well as some disappointments.

You obviously can’t read too much into Summer League either way, as most of the guys who are in it won’t be on an NBA roster, and the players that will are often working on weaknesses in their games.

I thought both Isaiah Stewart and Isaiah Livers looked good, Jaden Ivey was electric in his brief time and Jalen Duren showed some things, though also revealed areas where he must improve.

I think more than anything this year, I got the sense that fans were wondering why Summer League even needs to exist, as most of the rotation guys don’t play more than one or two games and they are often sloppy affairs that don’t teach us much.

I would vote for pushing Summer League back a month so that new players have a chance to get to know each other a bit before having to play together, and it would also space out the interesting parts of the NBA offseason.

Summer League comes and goes, and while there were some nice moments, there were also some slight disappointments.

Detroit Pistons: The Summer League disappointments

Killian Hayes and Jaden Ivey

After a sloppy first half, Jaden Ivey settled down, harnessed his speed and started to dominate. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see much of him, which is the disappointing part.

I don’t think Ivey would have played in all of the games anyway, but it would have been nice to see him finish out game two and possibly have a another big game three to start off his career.

Instead, he has an ankle injury that could slow him down just as he is getting started, which was obviously the biggest disappointment of the Summer League. Not his fault of course, but Summer League was pretty much over for a lot of Pistons’ fans once he went down.

Killian Hayes played just one game, which was somewhat surprising given that he needs all of the reps he can get. I thought he would play at least two games, as Beef Stew did, and possibly have one where he launched a ton of shots.

Killian Hayes played fine in his one game, but he’s one of the players that has the most to gain or lose next season, so it would have been nice to see him dominate what should be inferior competition for a guy entering his third season who has played nearly 100 games in the NBA.

I get trying to protect him, but when you see other more high profile guys playing more games than him, it makes you wonder about his level of competitiveness. I mean, LeBron James is pushing 60 and is still playing in the Drew League, not sitting around hoping not to get injured.

Killian probably didn’t have a ton of say in the matter, so I am not completely blaming him, but it was disappointing not to see more of him as he enters a crucial season.