Garza, Saban, and Livers sent to the G league

[treefi]

it's obviously better that lee and garza had good games vs. bad, but them having good games doesn't automatically mean they're ready for NBA minutes.

true but many already thought saben lee proved he was ready for NBA minutes last year. and what he just did in his good game (42/8/8 with 4 steals and 1 TO) isn't very common. there might not be a better G-League performance all year.

i don't think it's a stretch to say saben lee is ready for NBA minutes.

[zeebneeb]

it's obviously better that lee and garza had good games vs. bad, but them having good games doesn't automatically mean they're ready for NBA minutes.

true but many already thought saben lee proved he was ready for NBA minutes last year. and what he just did in his good game (42/8/8 with 4 steals and 1 TO) isn't very common. there might not be a better G-League performance all year.

i don't think it's a stretch to say saben lee is ready for NBA minutes.

Lee is ready to be the backup by virtue of the fact Joseph just doesn't fit this team. When Cade and Killian are out there, the pace is much faster, and when Joseph takes over it moves to a slower, plodding pace, with horrific ball movement.

It's time for Joseph to sit, and let Lee take control of the second unit. I am not a fan of Lee's style of play, but, he did show in a few games last year, that he can do it when he stops trying to score on every possession.

[hoophabit]

This game is available on Youtube. There seems little remaining question as to whether Lee has improved his shooting. He made several half-hook high arch shots off the glass that were impressive. If Lee keeps this up CoJo might end up in a trade.

[440BB]

Saben Lee showed what he could offer the rotation in the last preseason game and in this case, another great performance when given more than spot time on the court. Until Joseph is benched/traded/waived, it will apparently take an injury, like it did last season, for him to get another Pistons rotation opportunity.

I hope he continues to force the Pistons to rethink the PG rotation. He's worked on becoming a more well rounded player and deserves minutes and on court NBA development.

[mattao313]

Saben Lee showed what he could offer the rotation in the last preseason game and in this case, another great performance when given more than spot time on the court. Until Joseph is benched/traded/waived, it will apparently take an injury, like it did last season, for him to get another Pistons rotation opportunity.

I hope he continues to force the Pistons to rethink the PG rotation. He's worked on becoming a more well rounded player and deserves minutes and on court NBA development.

Sucks for him. He plays behind probably the worst guard rotation in the league on one of the worst teams and can't get on the court.

Sent from my moto g play (2021) using RealGM mobile app

[breezypeezy]

Come on man his dad was Amp Lee, he gets bonus points from me just on the stud runs in the family grounds.

Who was Joseph's daddy? Caseys uncle or something, I sniff some nepotism type of treatment here, but whateva.

[7r5ur]

Saben's problem is that it seems like he's so much better when he plays a lot of minutes and has super high usage. That's just not going to happen very often on the main squad, because guys like Cade, Grant, and Saddiq will be top options above him every night, and it will take a lot for Killian to lose his starting spot. Saben needs to get better at coming in for short spurts and having an immediate impact. Easier said than done.

That said, I'd obviously rather have him playing than Cojo. I just think Casey has this weird fixation with having a veteran backing up Killian by default.

[DBC10]

Saben's problem is that it seems like he's so much better when he plays a lot of minutes and has super high usage. That's just not going to happen very often on the main squad, because guys like Cade, Grant, and Saddiq will be top options above him every night, and it will take a lot for Killian to lose his starting spot. Saben needs to get better at coming in for short spurts and having an immediate impact. Easier said than done.

That said, I'd obviously rather have him playing than Cojo. I just think Casey has this weird fixation with having a veteran backing up Killian by default.

This. When Saben is getting north of 20 minutes a night like he did a few times when Wright and Hayes were out, he actually performed above expectations and dropped more than 15 points on those occasions with stringing along assists

Just by having the virtue of Cade, I don't think we can ever play him that type of minutes here. He's caught in the middle of the more you play him he does occasionally exponentially improves his play through the night, but when it's a shorter leash, he basically can't take advantage of the opportunity in that short period

I think being able to come in with a relatively cold hand or inopportune minutes is a learned skill so he still has time to learn it, but it may not be with our team

[NYPiston]

Just saw the Saben Lee box score. Holy Fn ****.
It lines up with what I saw in preseason, a player who is clearly NBA quality and too good for the G League. It's only a matter of time until CoJo is dealt/waived and Lee is getting a real opportunity to show his stuff, unless CoJo really does have compromising pictures of Casey like a lot of us suspect.

[bstein14]

Really wish we had a team option on CoJo after this year instead of it being a player option. It feels like Weaver may have screwed up a bit on that one, especially with CoJo's poor start to the year.

Moving forward, the ideal situation is without a doubt us being able to move CoJo for an expiring contract to get that cap space back for next summer, and we can then move Saben Lee into the rotation. We can't trade CoJo until December 15th at the very earliest.

The one thing that Joseph does have going for him is that he is on team Canada with Olynyk and Lyles so there clearly is some chemistry there, but at the same time we'd be foolish to keep him on the team just for that reason.

Saben Lee did sound caught off guard when a reporter mentioned it to him that Casey commented how the Cruise would be a good place for Saben this season to help him develop. So perhaps, after not playing in the G League after his rookie season, Lee doesn't really think he should be down there now either... Or maybe he just didn't even know it was something management and coaching was considering for him.

The good news is that Detroit does have Saben on a 3 year minimum deal so even if he isn't a rotation player for us this season, if he steps in that position in years 2 and 3 of that deal its still an incredible deal.

[bstein14]

Just finished watching the Saben Lee 42 point highlight reel and I've mentioned it several times here before, but he really does remind me of Ish Smith with some of those quick takes to the basket, the scoops to avoid getting his shot blocked.

My #1 reason against putting Hayes out there as a starter was because he wasn't earning it and Saben was clearly the better player last season and in this preseason for us. Even with Hayes showing improvement, there is zero chance he has the offensive game to drop 40+ in the G league. Looking at his shot chart on the season inside the 3 point area I think he's made 0 shots outside the paint that are 2 pointers and he also has been horribly bad at shooting/finishing inside the paint as well.

All of that said, I'm fine for Saben to stay down in the G League for the next month and continue to develop as a player, get a ton of looks as the #1 option on that team, develop chemistry with guys like Garza and Pickett as I can see all three of those guys being bench players on the main team the 2nd half of the season once the tank is fully on and we've hopefully moved a few of the vets at the deadline.

[vege]

Saben Lee can play. He should be starting for us and Hayes should be in the G-League.

[440BB]

Just finished watching the Saben Lee 42 point highlight reel and I've mentioned it several times here before, but he really does remind me of Ish Smith with some of those quick takes to the basket, the scoops to avoid getting his shot blocked.

My #1 reason against putting Hayes out there as a starter was because he wasn't earning it and Saben was clearly the better player last season and in this preseason for us. Even with Hayes showing improvement, there is zero chance he has the offensive game to drop 40+ in the G league. Looking at his shot chart on the season inside the 3 point area I think he's made 0 shots outside the paint that are 2 pointers and he also has been horribly bad at shooting/finishing inside the paint as well.

All of that said, I'm fine for Saben to stay down in the G League for the next month and continue to develop as a player, get a ton of looks as the #1 option on that team, develop chemistry with guys like Garza and Pickett as I can see all three of those guys being bench players on the main team the 2nd half of the season once the tank is fully on and we've hopefully moved a few of the vets at the deadline.

It's in Lee's best interest that Hayes plays well while he dominates with the Cruise. There's still a fair chance that Hayes develops his swagger and shooting while Lee develops his vision and passing. A young effective PG tandem with very different styles, the best case. Lee's chances of becoming a quality backup are improving as he looks like he's doing the work to continue growing his game. He has earned a run in that role, getting a chance to show if he can be effective with consistent minutes.

Whether Joseph plays well enough to be traded and how attached the Pistons are to his "mentor" role are the unknowns. I see the worst case being Joseph playing very well along with Hayes, making Weaver and Casey think they are competing for something this season. That would cost Lee development time and weaken the 2022 first round pick for nothing. We need Joseph to just show enough to have trade value while Hayes starts showing he's rounding out his game.

With Lee, Garza, Livers, Pickett and Smith there's a good chance we eventually get three good rotation pieces from second rounders and undrafted players. Not bad at all.

[Manocad]

Saben Lee can play. I want him starting for us because I want Hayes in the G-League.

There. Fixed that for you.

[ComboGuardCity]

Did y’all not see Cojo last game + the last half of the season? I’m extremely reactionary and wanted him benched…but he’s been good for us. Saben will get his shot

[Manocad]

Did y’all not see Cojo last game + the last half of the season? I’m extremely reactionary and wanted him benched…but he’s been good for us. Saben will get his shot

I'd rather see Saben play than Cojo just because I don't think Cojo is adding much real value relative to helping bring the young guys along.

[NYPiston]

Did y’all not see Cojo last game + the last half of the season? I’m extremely reactionary and wanted him benched…but he’s been good for us. Saben will get his shot

CoJo has been awful this season outside of the last couple of games and he's not a part of the future while a swiftly developing young PG (who fills a big need btw with his athleticism) is playing in the G League so that's why some people are frustrated.

However, I'm actually ok with CoJo taking the backup minutes for the next month or two while Lee develops further in the G League but if Lee isn't up here by Christmas at the latest and playing regular minutes, Weaver/Casey need to be criticized. At that point, their "playoff dream" should be dashed and development should be the #1 priority.

[Sort]

Every year the Piston faithful dream of a trade return for some half way decent veteran we have.

I'm all for Lee getting some time at the one, and I think Cade should have some burn at the two in a game, so I don't necessarily think they are exclusive. As you all noticed, Lee is one of the few on this team with the speed to create for himself and others - we don't want just Cade and Grant doing that endlessly.

But that's a dream. Can any of you really see Casey not playing CoJo while there is even a chance of not tanking this year?