Detroit Pistons: The perfect role for Isaiah Livers is there

With a new coach and a better-balanced roster, the Detroit Pistons will look to compete this season. Isaiah Livers could become a crucial role player for this group, or he could find himself the odd man out. If allowed to play his game in a limited number of minutes, I expect him to carve out a solid place in the rotation.

Isaiah Livers has a skillset the Detroit Pistons need

Livers is a solid defensive wing who can shoot well in limited scenarios. He would thrive coming off the bench especially when used in an offense that allows him to slide through off-ball screens. Catch and shoot opportunities should be his bread and butter offensively, and his intelligence should translate into the occasional backdoor or weakside cut on plays where his number wasn’t called but the defense adjusted, denying the play but creating an opening.

Defensively, Livers should provide the most value. He can defend on the perimeter and in the post against small-ball players, and his IQ allows for strong team and help defense, which could help teammates like Bogdanovic, Wiseman, or MB3, guys who struggle playing individual defense but who can thrive on a team that takes pride in getting stops.

Livers’ consistency and intelligence made him a bright spot on the young squad last season, but his contributions didn’t lead to team success. Livers scored 6.7 points when playing 23 minutes per game, which equaled a player efficiency rating of 8.4, almost half the league average of 15. He was asked to do too much on a team decimated by injuries and, ultimately, on a team playing to develop youth and increase lottery odds.

Adjusted for 36 minutes, Livers scored 10.4 points on .417 shooting, including .365 from beyond the arc. His shooting was down both overall and from three-point range from his rookie campaign. After coming off an injury to play nineteen games with five starts in his first year, he was asked to do more, to play on average three more minutes per game and to start 22 of 52 games. In short, he became more important to the team’s offense and played a larger role in the team’s execution.

Watching Isaiah Livers, what I see is a young player who often makes the right play but doesn’t quite have the speed or power to dominate starters in the NBA. Livers appears to be an intelligent, mature player for his age, the type of bench player the Detroit Pistons need. The opportunity to develop such a player out of the draft’s second round shouldn’t be overlooked.

Teams that win do exactly that.

While Livers will never carry a team offensively, he can contribute within his game, which consists of a skillset the Detroit Pistons need. I expect Livers to play a significant bench role next season, but I hope to see him play within his game.