The Detroit Pistons will soon be making roster moves, and they are likely to involve Daniss Jenkins and possibly Jaden Ivey.
The guard duo has been playing more together since Caris LeVert has been out with an illness, but we’re not much closer to answering any of the questions that hover around them as the trade deadline approaches.
The Jenkins problem will sort itself out, but Jaden Ivey’s future is murkier.
Daniss Jenkins will get his full-time contract soon
Two-way guard Daniss Jenkins has played his way into the rotation, and it appears he’s there to stay even once LeVert returns.
Jenkins has been wildly inconsistent shooting the ball, but he does a solid job of running the second unit and plays surprisingly good defense, so he finds ways to contribute even when his shots aren’t falling.
He only has a few games left on his two-way eligibility, so the Pistons will have to convert him soon, or he won’t be eligible for the playoffs.
The Pistons can wait until after the dust settles from the trade deadline, which may open a roster spot for Jenkins, but if not, expect Isaac Jones or Bobi Klintman to be cut.
Will Jaden Ivey be a Piston after the trade deadline?
The situation with Ivey is much less certain, especially after he logged just seven minutes in the loss to Phoenix, which raised a lot of eyebrows.
The Pistons may not make a big trade at the deadline, but if they do, Ivey is likely to be involved, as he’s the best young player that they are willing to give up, and he’s still got upside that another team could covet.
One of those teams could be the Nets, who the Pistons play on Sunday, which will be a tryout for both Ivey and Michael Porter Jr., who has been connected to the Pistons in speculation for weeks.
It will be interesting to see how the coaches handle these two players. There has been nothing reported about the Pistons making a deal with the Nets, but we know these things tend to stay quiet until they happen. MPJ sat out the Nets last game with “personal issues,” which sounds a bit fishy if I wanted to be conspiratorial.
At this point, the Pistons have seen enough of Ivey to know if he’s going to be a part of the core moving forward, so it’s not like a couple of games will change that, but I will be paying close attention to how they play him in the next two games.
Thursday can’t get here soon enough, as we’ll finally have an end to the rampant speculation and get some answers to questions that have lingered over this team all season.