The Detroit Pistons will have some new faces in the rotation next season, but they are also hoping to get more from the guys who were already on the roster.
Isaiah Livers is one of those players, as the second-round pick barely played last season but hopes to be a mainstay in the rotation.
Livers only played in 19 games last season after missing most of it recovering from an injury he suffered near the end of his time at the University of Michigan.
In eight of those games, Livers played fewer than 20 minutes, and he only scored in double-digits four times, not exactly eye-popping numbers, especially considering he was on a 23-win team that was tanking down the stretch.
But that is going to change next season, as Isaiah Livers will (hopefully) enter the season healthy and have a drastically increased role for the Detroit Pistons.
Detroit Pistons: Isaiah Livers is going to get minutes
Even though Livers didn’t fill the stat sheet or light up the scoreboard much last season, he showed why he is going to be important for the Detroit Pistons moving forward.
The first reason is because of his shooting.
The Pistons simply don’t have enough of it, and Livers shot 42.2 percent from long range last season, impressive even though it was on limited attempts.
With two guards that want to work in the mid-range and paint in Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, the Pistons are going to need players who can spread the floor and Livers is one of the only plus 3-point shooters they have.
Livers could very well be the first player off the bench and one that coach Dwane Casey runs with the starters as well as the bench units.
The second reason is because of his versatility on both ends. Livers can be used in offensive lineups when the Pistons need a bucket, but he is also a guy who can defend a few positions and be inserted as a guard or forward, so he’ll also be in there when the Pistons desperately need a stop.
He’s an unselfish player who will do whatever is needed of him at that moment, so he can be more of a spot-up shooter and connector playing with the starters and more of a creator when he is out there with the bench.
Every team needs a glue guy, and Isaiah Livers is going be that for the Detroit Pistons, which is why I won’t be surprised when he averages closer to 30 minutes per game next season and gives Detroit double-digits off the bench.