4 Biggest disappointments for the Detroit Pistons up until this point

Jan 5, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Detroit Pistons head coach Monty Williams
Jan 5, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Detroit Pistons head coach Monty Williams / D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports
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#2: Inconsistent minutes for Ausar Thompson and Jaden Ivey

This goes along with number one, as you can put this squarely on the shoulders of Monty Williams.

Ausar Thompson is up to 24 minutes per game for the season after finally getting starter's minutes over the last handful of games. But this kid was looking like a monster to start the season. He averaged 11.4 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists in his first 17 games while playing over 30 minutes per night.

Then Williams inexplicably pulled him from the starting lineup, then put him back in, then pulled him again, with minutes ranging from 30 one night to eight the next. Thompson has struggled shooting the ball, but Williams has done little to help him by getting him different looks in different sets, instead, parking his best athlete in the corner where he is essentially useless.

Thompson didn't even make the Rising Stars Challenge, which Monty has been complaining about, but he has no one but himself to blame, as he is the one who stopped playing Ausar even though he is the team's best defender and athlete.

Same with Jaden Ivey, who only started six times in the first 22 games after being benched for Killian Hayes, a player the Pistons cut just to remove him as an option.

Ivey has started the last 28 games and averaged 18.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists, looking very much like a star at times.

It was like Monty Williams had never seen any of these guys play before and did no research on the team he inherited.

They are getting more consistent minutes now, but he spent a good chunk of the season trying to make a pointless point to two of his best players, stunting their growth and wasting more than a quarter of their seasons, which was hugely disappointing.