In the fallout of Jaden Ivey’s arthroscopic knee surgery, the Pistons will be entering the regular season shorthanded, and that’s a familiar place for Detroit after Ivey’s season-ending broken leg last season. 

But this year, the fourth-year guard was mounting a comeback during the preseason and played 13 minutes in the opener against Memphis and at that point, all signs seemed to be positive. Pistons President of Basketball Operations Trajan Langdon declared during training camp that Ivey was unrestricted from an injury context, so the hope was that the explosive guard would regain his form and starting place in the Detroit lineup.

Instead, Ivey will be reevaluated in four weeks after the exploratory knee surgery this past Thursday, Oct. 16. So, the Pistons will begin the regular season a bit short handed at shooting guard, though the emergence of Daniss Jenkins as a rotational option is making that transition a bit easier to bear.

“He was phenomenal in Summer League,” Bickerstaff said of Jenkins on Saturday. “He went into that with the mindset of he was going to put the league on notice and make the decisions tough for us as coaches and front office alike because he was communicative, he competed, he shared the ball, he could score the ball. And he's brought that with him into the preseason. You just love people like that. You love people that aren't afraid of the moment. You love people that find an opportunity and try to seize the opportunity. I think he's done a great job of that. There's been people that I know around the league, other coaches and stuff that I've noticed as well just how good of a player he is.”

During the preseason, Jenkins played an important role in spelling Cade Cunningham when the All-Star needed a rest and even started for Detroit in the team’s third preseason game as Cunningham received the night off. In that contest against the Cavs, Jenkins tied for a team-high with 19 points (3-of-4 from distance) while dishing out six assists in the game.

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So, Jenkins has acquitted himself well in the opportunities he’s had, both in the preseason and throughout the Summer League, and he appears to have gained coach Bickerstaff’s trust. 

But another player in Motown is expected to factor into the guard rotation once the regular season starts and that would be Marcus Sasser, though he’s been a bit limited during the preseason. Sasser missed the team’s final two preseason affairs, and he only logged a total of 23 minutes combined in the first two exhibition games. 

“It's frustrating for him and us alike at the timing of it,” Bickerstaff said. “I won't comment on the injury, you know? I mean, he spoke forward and said how he was feeling. But I mean, there is an opportunity for him, and obviously when you are injured, you do lose those opportunities. But because we trust in him and we know who he is, his moment will come. He's just got to make sure he gets back 100% because we know he's talented. We know he can help us. It's not one of those situations where it was now-or-never. He's going to get a chance.”

As one would expect, Bickerstaff was disappointed that he didn’t have the opportunity to play Sasser more during the preseason, especially with Ivey set to miss some time right away, but the speedy point guard will have a chance to compete with Jenkins for minutes once the regular season arrives.

The Pistons’ first regular season game will be a road contest against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 8 pm.

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