When the regular season began in Detroit, the Pistons had high expectations for Marcus Sasser to fill the team’s backup point guard role after parting ways with Dennis Schroder in the offseason. Instead, Sasser’s potential fit in that position never had an opportunity to come together as the third-year guard noticed an issue with his right hip during the preseason. Eventually, Sasser was diagnosed with a hip impingement, and he was promptly sidelined to recover from the injury with an undetermined timeline. 

Now, a little over one month from the initial injury, Sasser is beginning to work back towards rejoining the Pistons. On Sunday, the Pistons announced that Sasser would begin his rehab work with the G-League’s Motor City Cruise. If this rehab stint goes smoothly and without any other setbacks, then Sasser could rejoin the Pistons in the NBA sometime next week. 

Over the past couple weeks, Jaden Ivey and Tobias Harris were assigned to the Motor City Cruise in order to ramp up their on-court work while rehabbing respective lower-body injuries. Ivey and Harris were only with the Cruise for a couple days before the Pistons recalled the pair, so Sasser might have a short stint in the G-League.

Jaden Ivey Has ‘Best’ Performance Since Returning From Injury Pistons guard Jaden Ivey is still working his way back to 100%, but he had a strong performance against the Heat on Saturday

With Sasser out of the picture up until now, two-way point guard Daniss Jenkins has taken hold of his opportunity to play for the Pistons with a vice grip. In a limited starting capacity, Jenkins averaged over 20 points and seven assists per game, and he’s transitioned into a reverse point guard that can spell Cade Cunningham when he needs to take a breather. This role is the exact slot that Sasser was expected to fill for the Pistons this season, but his injury allowed Jenkins to showcase his skills, and the second-year player has acquitted himself admirably in his spot duty. 

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When Sasser returns to the Pistons, it is likely that head coach J.B. Bickerstaff is going to work the explosive, twitchy guard back into the mix slowly. Bickerstaff is known to give his players a chance to regain their position after returning from injury, and he’s believed to extend that same opportunity to Sasser. If Sasser can deliver at a level comparable to Jenkins, then it is possible that the Pistons will continue to bounce Jenkins back between the G-League and the NBA. However, Jenkins has looked a bit more consistent and reliable with the basketball than Sasser has in his young NBA career, so a lot of that decision will come down to how each player performs down the road. 

Sasser will have an opportunity to suit up for the Cruise on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 11 am when the squad takes on the Wisconsin Herd at home. 

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