Some uncomfortable questions about Jaden Ivey after preseason

Uncomfortable questions about Jaden Ivey

Are we sure Jaden Ivey and Cade Cunningham are a good fit?

We didn’t get to see much of Cade and Ivey last season because of Cunningham’s injury, so it’s a duo we were hoping would take off in the preseason of year two.

But that didn’t happen, in fact, Ausar Thompson looked like a much better fit with Cade, especially defensively, where their size was really presenting problems for the opposition.

I’d say Thompson looked far more comfortable on both ends even though he didn’t shoot the ball particularly well. He made the right play, didn’t turn the ball over as much and was more effective getting to the rim than Ivey.

Ivey only shot 44 percent overall (better than Ausar’s 35 percent) and 26 percent from long range. He just looked uncomfortable in the offense, but again, that could be the product of a new role and adjusting to new teammates.

I’m almost ready to declare Ausar Thompson as the Pistons’ second-best player even though he’s never played a regular season game, which may be unfair, but he passed the eye test in preseason and Ivey really didn’t.

Again, you don’t want to make too much of preseason, but Thompson, not Ivey, looks like Detroit’s second building block, which brings me to another uncomfortable question.