The Detroit Pistons Have A Hidden Gem In Their Young Core

A slash line of 6.4 points and 2.2 assists per game in 13.7 minutes a night probably doesn’t jump off the page. I mean, why would it? That’s usually the numbers associated with a player who sits at the fringes of their team’s rotation.

And to be fair, that is where Marcus Sasser has been most of the season for the feel-good Detroit Pistons. Yet don’t let his modest outputs fool you. Sasser’s second year has been one of tremendous growth. It’s the kind that makes him worth keeping tabs on amid a team chock-full of promising talent.

An Answer To The Pistons’ Biggest Problem

The reason Sasser first caught my eye during his rookie season was a tremendous ability to generate offense for himself and his teammates. Generally, efficient on-ball creation is the hardest, most valuable skill to find in basketball. Teams need one or two guys capable of doing this at any given time.

Last year, he was one of the most impressive pull-up shooters in his class, which is among the best indicators for self-generated scoring ability. This year, he’s become even more effective at this play type, boosting his pull-up effective field goal percentage from 49 to 55.9 percent. That ranks third out of 147 players with at least two pull-up attempt per game (per NBA.com).

Sasser isn’t just a one-trick — err, pull-up trick — pony. Pretty much every region of the floor has become an area at which he excels. His overall 3-point shooting, midrange shooting, rim finishing and true shooting are all way up from the previous season.

His interior scoring may be the most eye-popping part of all of this. Normally, small, slender guards like him struggle to finish above the trees once they enter the paint. Not Sasser, though. Despite lacking race car-like burst, he finds creative ways to slither inside and convert. His rim finishing is in the 80th percentile among point guards (per Cleaning the Glass) and the 54th percentile in the entire league.

Sasser can do more than just score for himself. His playmaking and vision have ascended right alongside his bucket-getting. On the season, he ranks in the 87th percentile in Passer Rating (an estimate of a player’s passing ability from 1-10) and the 86th percentile in Box Creation (an estimate of open shots created for teammates per 100 possessions).

As is the case with most teams possessing a centripetal star as the anchor of their offense, the Pistons aren’t the same when Cade Cunningham sits on the bench. To take the next step, they need a secondary drink-stirrer to keep the offense afloat without him.

From what I’ve seen, they won’t have to look very far. Sasser seems ready to don this mantle in short spurts. This season, the Pistons have a minus-4.7 net rating when Jaden Ivey (thought of as the answer to this riddle) is on the floor without Sasser or Cunningham, per PBP Stats. Meanwhile, they are a plus-1.2 when Sasser captains the ship without Ivey or Cunningham. That isn’t a mesmerizing data point, but it does show he can keep them out of the red when Cunningham catches his breath.

Sasser Needs More Minutes

I’m not saying Sasser is a future All-Star. But he should definitely see closer to 20 minutes than 10 minutes per night. Unfortunately, with the playoffs rolling around, it doesn’t seem like he will get this chance.

Most teams shore up their rotations for the league’s second season. As someone who already sits on the outskirts, Sasser will likely find himself on the chopping block. As part of their defense-first identity (ninth in defensive rating), the Pistons prioritize putting as much size and length on the floor as possible. The 6-foot-2 Sasser doesn’t necessarily fit this prerogative.

However, I tend to resent the notion Sasser is a moving target on defense. Yes, smaller players are at an inherent disadvantage on that end. But Sasser spent four years under the authoritative Kelvin Sampson at Houston. Defense is in his blood. He’s also in the 86th percentile in Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus and 80th percentile in steal rate this season, per Dunks & Threes.

For the first time in forever, the Pistons are building something special. With his blend of offensive creation and viable guard-level defense, Sasser deserves to be an integral part of this movement. Doing so could make their rise even more special.