3 Pistons players whose preseason stock has plummeted

The Detroit Pistons finished preseason with a winning record and looked to have made some strides in key areas in the process. 

Preseason is what it is, and you can’t take too much from it, but a young team looking for positives found some in the five exhibition games. 

Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey looked like a dynamic backcourt, with Ivey knocking down shots efficiently and Cunningham running the offense while taking care of the ball. The spacing was noticeably better with Malik Beasley and Tobias Harris on the floor and Jalen Duren benefitted in the pick-and-roll with several dunks. 

The defensive energy was there despite it being preseason, hopefully, a sign of things to come. There were still problems, but coach JB Bickerstaff has his young team looking more locked in on the defensive end, which is start. I wouldn’t be completely shocked to see the Pistons leap into the top half of the league defensively this season. 

There were also players who now look on the fringes of the rotation for one reason or another, whose stock went down in the five preseason games. 

Ausar Thompson 

Thompson didn’t do anything wrong, but he still hasn’t been cleared to play and color me concerned about it, as blood clots are a serious issue that have cost other players full seasons or more. 

Obviously, the Pistons are still very high on Thompson and he is a big part of their future plans, so his health is the biggest concern coming out of the preseason. It doesn’t appear that he’ll be cleared before the games get real, and until further notice, the Pistons can’t count on him returning anytime soon. 

The fact that there haven’t been any updates is concerning. I hope I'm just being nervous.

Marcus Sasser 

With Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey splitting the point guard minutes, even in preseason, Sasser could find himself out of the rotation entirely. 

Cade and Ivey haven’t even played starter’s minutes yet and Sasser was only able to get 13 minutes a game in five preseason contests, essentially getting the same run as Daniss Jenkins. 

Sasser wasn’t bad, as he did have 16 assists to just five turnovers. He didn’t shoot the ball well, but these are tiny sample sizes and we know he can shoot. This is more circumstantial than anything, but I could see Sasser getting very limited time early in the season.  

Tim Hardaway Jr. 

THJ is fighting for rotation minutes with rookie Ron Holland II and so far, the rookie has looked far more effective. Neither of them shot the ball well, but Holland isn’t expected to, while Hardaway Jr’s primary skill is shooting, and he doesn’t bring much else to the table. 

THJ did start three of the preseason games, and I could see him potentially in that role to start the season if Bickerstaff wants to keep his bench rotation, but Holland made his case for more minutes and it’s possible we’ll see THJ getting limited run unless he starts hitting some shots. 

There is value to having a veteran early in the season with a tough opening schedule, and he at least has the reputation to create space, but I think we’ll see plenty of Holland, which wasn’t a given before the preseason.