Jaden Ivey Season Preview

We are now into the guys that I have done posts for already. There will inevitably be some repeat information between this and “Meet Jaden Ivey” but we will live with it. There’s much time before the season to fill. I did not re-read “meet Jaden Ivey” so any repeated information…. sorry.

Also. You may be able to tell if you are reading this on reddit. But the situation appears to be resolved. Please do not continue to give the mods crap about it or whatever and put the whole episode behind us. A massive thank you to all the folk who supported me on it that was very cool.

About Last Year.

Ivey spent last season playing for the Purdue Boilermakers. It was his sophomore season where he averaged 17.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.1 assists (against 2.6 turnovers) in 31.4 minutes per game. He was the leading scorer and best player for a Purdue team that won 29 games and finished 10th in the final AP poll of the season.

Ivey did have a few stinkers, most notably a 9-point, 6 turnover effort against St. Peter’s where Purdue lost in the tournament. But he also had some stunning games, including a 26-point romping against Big Ten champion Illinois.

Ivey was drafted 5th overall and comes to Detroit as a highly prized prospect as there are some scouts (including one who I spoke to myself) who thought he had a genuine case to go #1 overall.

Offense:

Ivey is, first and foremost, an impetuous slasher to the hoop. Routinely splitting through double teams for calamitous layups and dunks, even big men dropping deep into the paint are liable to be blown by when Ivey has the ball.

Ivey also showed an aptitude for shooting, hitting 35.8% of his deep shots on a diet that included plenty of challenging pull-up jumpers. This potent combination of effective shooting with elite slashing athleticism is the package that won over many scouts. It’s so rare to see a guard who only needs to dribble once to get to the hoop from a standstill beyond the 3-point line, who can also reliably hit outside shots.

He sounds like the perfect modern ball-handler

Well. He isn’t that.

For one, the in-between game is a huge mystery. He took basically no mid-range shots at all at Purdue. We want players not to focus on the mid-range but there needs to be some effort to keep defenses honest at the NBA level.

The larger issue is questions surrounding his passing and his general feel for the game. It was not uncommon to have him drive the lane only to be met by a wall of defenders, at which point he would jump into the air without knowing where to pass it. This tendency led to some ugly turnovers. Part of this is because he was forced to often play without effective spacing in Purdue’s system, but part of it was also that his mind clearly doesn’t always keep up with his body’s tremendous speed.

The Pistons may not have enough shots available for him to score a ton but he is the type of player who can probably score 20 points per game out of the box, everything other than scoring is where the questions will fall.

The good news here is that the presence of Cade Cunningham means that Ivey shouldn’t have too much playmaking heaped onto him from day one. Cunningham has already proven effective which means Ivey can focus on scoring while easing into more of a facilitation role. Also in the good news, is that Ivey (supposedly) told teams that he is not worried about his positional designation between the guard spots and is comfortable with either. So hopefully there won’t be any hard feelings if he isn’t dominating the ball. On that note, he also showed to be effective moving without the ball at Purdue, a positive outcome of spending two years with Matt Painter, both finding space as a shooter and gaps as a cutter.

Defense:

There is potential here for Ivey. He’s rangy for a guard and has excellent athleticism, also seemed to customarily give a shit on the defensive end which is good. If nothing else, his time at Purdue with Matt Painter will have instilled in him the knowledge that he needs to give a base-level of effort on the defensive end, there is once again some question about his overall feel for the game here as well. He had some great moments locking down guys on the ball and his highlights abound with impressive chase-down blocks. Unfortunately, he often lost his man while ball-watching or got crushed by screens because he struggled to know when to take his foot off the gas.

This somewhat connects with his offensive play as well. A player of his boundless athleticism is someone who you want playing balls to the wall more often than not. But for him to reach his potential he will need to learn when to slow down. The trick will be learning to slow down without losing that bit of crazy that can make great athletes have an outsized impact on the floor.

Where does he fit in the rotation?

I’m thinking he starts from day one. It wouldn’t be a shock to see Alec Burks take the spot in an effort to make Ivey earn the position (also Alec Burks is actually pretty good and his presence could help the other guys as a starter) but either way he is probably starting sooner rather than later.

Even if he comes off the bench, it should be in fairly heavy minutes.

Where does he fit on the floor?

Playing off of Cade Cunningham as a spacer and cutter, but also taking on a relatively heavy load of shot creation for himself. He will likely be paired with another ball-handler for the majority of his minutes. He should shine when paired with shooters to give him space.

Worst Case Scenario:

The turnovers are a brutal issue. The lack of feel for the game brings back horrifying memories of Brandon Knight.

Best Case Scenario:

The extra space provided by an NBA court and NBA teammates is the secret sauce to allowing Ivey to thrive. It becomes abundantly clear early in the season that most of his issues stemmed from a clogged-up Purdue offense and, now freed from those shackles, he is a dominant offensive force.

Ivey scores an efficient 22 points per game, gels next to Cade Cunningham, and we come out of this season wondering who is the most important piece on the team between the two. The Pistons unquestionably have a pair of multi-time all-stars on the roster.

Official Prediction:

I will admit some bias here. I have close family ties to Purdue and the fact that their best NBA prospect in like… 20 some years? (he’s gotta be their best prospect since Big Dog) is in Detroit. That said, I can’t help but lean towards that upside. Everything points to Ivey being able to score in bunches from day one, I wouldn’t be shocked if he leads the team in scoring. The turnovers are sometimes bad but not fatally so. His defensive effort is good.

My main worry is that the Pistons may well roll him out in lineups featuring such poor spacing that we won’t really find out how he looks with proper spacing this season.