2 young players the Pistons should develop, 2 to give up on
2 young players the Pistons should develop, 2 to give up on
Develop: Marcus Sasser
For the last several seasons, the Detroit Pistons have been a mess when it comes to backup guards. They’ve had some combination of a journeyman veteran like Cory Joseph or Rodney McGruder coupled with Killian Hayes, a guy who has yet to live up to being the 7th pick.
We’ve seen Saben Lee, RJ Hampton and others cycled through with little to no success, so it was time to do something about it this offseason. The Pistons did when they added veteran Monte Morris and traded up to get Marcus Sasser.
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Sasser is not a traditional point guard, as he’s more of a scorer, but he can do two things that every team needs out of a backup guard, which is shoot the 3-ball and defend. He didn’t shoot the ball well in Summer League (until his 40-point explosion) but showed a lot of poise, made winning plays on defense and showed the kind of motor Detroit needs.
Monty Williams raved about Sasser after Summer League, specifically mentioning his defense, and if he can shoot close to 40 percent from long range, this will be a guy worth investing in and the Detroit Pistons may have found one of their backup guards of the future.
Adding Morris should help Sasser, as the two have some similarities and Morris is one of the most reliable backup guards in the league, so Detroit is already investing in Sasser’s development.