Detroit Pistons: Important trends to watch after the All-Star break
Detroit Pistons: Perceptions of the rookies
Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren won’t get as much time off as their teammates, as they will be participating in the All-Star weekend in the Rising Stars game and Ivey will also be taking part in the Skills Challenge.
The two have been playing well going into the break, as Ivey has really gotten more consistent with his shooting and Duren recently had his most dominant performance of the season.
Ivey has shot 46.4 percent from the field over his last 10 games and 39 percent on 3-point shots on just over four attempts per game. It’s funny how perceptions are formed on players early in the season, as Ivey got the reputation as a guy who can’t shoot the 3-ball, while Bennedict Mathurin was getting a lot of hype as a 3-point shooter in Indiana.
Ivey is now shooting 33.2 percent from long range on the season to 31.9 for Mathurin on the same number of attempts per game.
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On top of that, the two rookies have been forming some nice chemistry, especially when Killian Hayes was coming off the bench, as nearly half of Ivey’s assists in that stretch went to Duren, most of them ending in thunderous dunks.
Ivey has a real chance to end up in the top-3 of Rookie of the Year voting, especially since Paolo Banchero has been slumping, not that anyone has noticed, as early-season perceptions gave Banchero the award before the season was half over, similar to how Cade Cunningham was more or less ruled out of the race after a slow start last season.
Ivey and Duren are trending up, and if Ivey continues this type of shooting consistency, the ceiling on what he can be will be raised.