Going into next season, Jaden Ivey is eager to prove his worth as the Pistons’ second star. Last season, he was well on his way, averaging maybe 17.6 points per game on extremely efficient shooting before he was injured. However, he still needs to improve in certain areas to truly take himself and the Pistons to the next level.
Jaden Ivey: The Next Scoring Leap
One of Ivey’s biggest weaknesses on the court offensively is his floater game. Ivey shot very well from three point range last season at 41% and is great when he’s able to get all the way to the rim. While his rim finishing numbers are not ideal (only 57%), he is able to generate rim looks at a very high rate.
But in the floater range Ivey struggled last season. He only shot 41 percent from 5 -9 feet out. These shots often turn into floaters or some other kind of crafty mid-range finishes, which Ivey does not consistently have in his bag right now.
However, his backcourt mate is one of the best in the league from that distance. Cade Cunningham shot 4.4 from 5 to 9 feet per game last season and at an astonishing 48 percent clip. This was 5th among all players taking at least 3.5 shots per game from that range.
In the playoffs, the floater range becomes even more important. Teams are able to scout individual players and take away their go-to tendencies, but generally still willing to live with floaters. Cade’s excellence in such a difficult shot area makes his game so translatable to the postseason.
Despite this, Cade can’t do it all by himself against talented playoff opponents. Last season, the Knicks found success by blitzing him with multiple defenders. The rest of the Pistons, especially Jaden Ivey, will need to make opponents pay when they do that. And having a reliable floater is the perfect way to dish out that punishment.
Even though generating easy buckets off of catch-and-shoot 3s and rim drives are great for racking up wins in the regular season, it’s imperative to have a reliable floater as a counter in the playoffs. When defense is really tightened up, almost every elite guard in the league does have a floater that they can go to. Even the greatest shooter ever, Steph Curry, uses his reliable floater when he gets run off the line.
Jaden Ivey will need to develop one if he wants to shine as a premier second star. Fortunately he’s got one of the best in the entire world to teach him this valuable skill. If he can absorb some important lesson from Cade in this regard, Ivey will be one step closer to cementing himself as the Pistons’ second star.