Kyle Singler's Role?

[Han Solo]

What's Singler's role this year and how many minutes does he get on this year's squad? Will he maintain heavy minutes or take a step back with his time on the floor?

[DetroitPistons]

I'm not sure he can even step back any further. Singler was complete garbage after his hot start last season and that is putting it nicely. I'm really hoping KCP is our backup SF while Singler rides the bench. There will be a decent amount of minutes at the backup SF spot which should be plenty to get KCP acclimated to the NBA game while Stuckey handles the starting SG duties. We have a really talented 7 or 8 man rotation but after that we have nothing but D-league scrubs (Singler, JJ, CV, Jorts, Mitchell, Siva, etc.). I'm not saying those guys can't improve but they are beyond horrible right now. I'm hoping Cheeks pulls a page from Dantoni's PHX playbook (I can't believe I just said that...) and uses an 8 man rotation while giving extended minutes to our core players. Maybe keep guys like Jennings, Monroe, and Smith around 38min per game.

[Notanoob]

Since we have 3 guys who you can reasonably expect to play SG, Singler's minutes will all have to come as a SF. There should be plenty of minutes there, but he'll have to prove he's a better overall player than Gigi, who clearly outclasses him as a shooter. JJ might see some time at the 3 as well. Singler's unlikely to see nearly as much time as he did last year. He will likely be just a hustle guy coming off of the bench, spending time at the 3 if Gigi is too slow to play defense well, but that's about it.

[joseph mamah]

what Singlers role will be depends on what Chauncey/Datome are able to do. if Chauncey/KCP are able to eat up most of the SG mins and Datome takes the backup SF job then Singlers role will be pretty limited. if Chauncey cant stay on the floor or just doesn't have it anymore and/or Datomes a dud, he'll have to play more than we'd probably like.

I think hes about the closest thing we have to a glue-guy on this roster and he fits well in most of our potential lineups, but he's an energy guy who's best in short 4 or 5 minute spurts. hes not a guy you want playing 8+ minutes at a time.

[theBigLip]

I was thinking glue-guy as well. He isn't going to get the minutes like he had last year. That's a good sign - means our team is more talented. But we've been putting rotation guys out as starters the last few years. Nice to see them relegated back to a role that should be more appropriate. Singler should be working his ass off just to get off the bench this year. I'd think he and Gigi will have a battle for backup SF. There will be minutes there - not sure which one of them is going to earn them.

[princeofpalace]

KCP is strictly a 2 guard, so I don't anticipate him getting much if any minutes at the 3. The backup SF spot will be Singlers to lose. Cheeks has said that he's a veterans coach and Singler was solid last year while Datome is a rookie. Singer is good in 20-25 minutes- the problem last year was Frank played him 30-35 minutes. Singler plays smart and can hit the 3, which is really all we need.

[ImHeisenberg]

Singler is definitely going to be fighting for minutes this season. I wouldn't be surprised if he was added in a trade if they move Stuckey or CV.

[piston1423]

Kyle Singler wasn't that bad last year. He's no starter but he's good at knocking down the 3 and spacing the floor off the bench. Why do people rank Datome so much higher than Singler when he hasn't even played a NBA game yet?

[RTM]

Singler should be in the rotation - 7th man would be ideal. He'll be fine as a complimentary guy.

[Brapman]

Every coach likes Singler - a lot.

Kyle is clearly a rotation player in this league and on this team. He will play, but his minutes will drop from last year simply because he's not a starter any longer with the Pistons way improved talent level.

[vic]

Singler is going to surprise people. He's smart, moves the ball well, cuts well, and he looks to be shooting a lot better. He could be first wing off the bench.

[Brapman]

He played a ton as a rookie and that was after coming off a long European season without a break coming into our SL team.

No way he doesn't grow and improve from last season, both skillwise, and just from a standpoint of having way less fatigue.

[tmorgan]

Not sure about Singler, but...

I'll be extremely impressed with the Cheeks/Dumars combo if there isn't a whole bunch of public bitching about minutes. Beyond Jennings, Monroe, Smith, and Drummond (at the high end) and Siva and Mitchell (at the low end), the other NINE guys on this roster are going to want more minutes than they'll probably get.

Billups: Probably thinks he can handle more than his body will let him
Bynum: Has always been fighting to carve out more of a role
Stuckey: Free agent to be, not guaranteed 20+ minutes for the first time in a while
KCP: Rookie hazing and a lot to learn
Singler: No longer a starter, fighting for an early sub role
Datome: NBA rookie with all the usual league transition questions
Jerebko: Role unknown, doesn't seem very happy
CV: Free agent to be, looking for a role as a shooting big
Jorts: Another shooting big, signed thinking he'd play some

Some of these guys are going to end up pissed off -- the only question is how public they'll be about it.

My guess: Jonas is the first to crack, probably to a source in Sweden, and he'll end up benched or traded for peanuts. Not that it matters, because I don't see him playing much this year.

[BadMofoPimp]

I wouldn't be surprised if Single gets more minutes than KCP most of the season until the 2nd half if KCP earns more.

[Q00]

Backup SF. Though with Stuckey out now, he will probably get minutes at backup SG as well to start the year. I can't see him starting at SG though once the season starts. With Stuckey out now, it almost definitely appears to be Chauncey as the starting SG now opening night. Cheeks said before that it was between him and Stuckey, so I guess the starting lineup is set now by default. Its the lineup I would've went with anyways though.

I think Singler only started last night because they were resting Chauncey.

Chauncey will probably share minutes with Singler/KCP at SG, and Bynum now becomes the full-time backup PG behind Jennings until Stuckey returns.

[pistontr]

we need his shooting ability. and he is an effective palyer.