One way or another, Marcus Sasser would exit the 2023 NBA draft as the Detroit Piston.
General Manager Troy Weaver had been a long-time fan, but throughout college basketball season his scouts had been contacting him regularly about the Houston Guard winning. His 3 point shooting. His pull-up sweaters. his grip. His confidence. His defense was more like a cornerback in football. It got everyone in Detroit. All of it.
Sasser, who would likely start in late first or early second round, was someone Detroit had identified as a target with their pick after picking No. 5 in Thursday’s draft. Shortly after the decision was made to take Overtime Elite’s Ausar Thompson with their pick, the Pistons bosses began working on how to get Sasser with their second pick. The front office hung on the phones until the Celtics landed on the other end and agreed to trade the No. 31 pick and two future second-rounders to move up to No. 25 and snap Sasser before anyone else could. (The trade with the league isn’t technically complete.) Weaver wanted to make sure Sasser was a Piston.
“He’s a stabilizing player and a stabilizing personality,” Weaver said Friday in Detroit as his team introduced Thompson and Sasser to local media. “He’s a rock. If you build what we want to build, you need some bricks, and this young man is a brick.
“You can talk about his shooting and defense but he is rock solid. He brings it to every game. You never have to worry about where he will be and what he will do. He’s rock solid. We wanted to add that stabilizing player and personality to the restoration. We put our chips in and went to get it.”
Detroit didn’t really need Sasser. It wanted him. The Pistons granted Sasser a guaranteed contract by going in the first round to select him. They gave up assets, albeit on a small scale. In the previous three drafts, they had picked three guards in the first round.
Such a signing suggests the Pistons want the 22-year-old Sasser, who oversaw one of Houston’s premier college basketball programs during his four-year career at Houston, in their rotation next season. Detroit needs shots, playmaking and a more vigorous attack point defense. Sasser offers all three. If he was 1.90 meters tall instead of 6:1, he might have been a top 7 pick. Sasser shares similarities with current Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier, former Pistons pit bull Mike James, and Philadelphia native Tyrese Maxey. If you told me that Sasser would become a routine contender for sixth man of the year for the next decade, I wouldn’t be stunned.
Obviously, Sasser needs to prove that what he did in college carries over to him, and that his lack of height won’t hinder him too much on either side of the ball. We will see.
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The question right now, however, is how Detroit will make room for Sasser. He’s a combo guard who can initiate offense when needed and successfully parry catch-and-shoot three-pointers when playing off the ball. Sasser thinks that combination is why he’s a good fit with Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, Detroit’s cornerstones.
“I feel like I can fit in with (bigger) point guards,” Sasser said Friday. “They can play the point guard and I can create space on the field with my ability to shoot the ball.”
Cunningham and Ivey will start. phew What happens when they leave the ground will be one of the more interesting storylines to follow throughout summer and training camp.
In addition to Sasser, Detroit currently has veteran Alec Burks and third-year guard Killian Hayes in backcourt. Burks has a $10.4 million team option for next season that has to be decided by June 29, but by the time the draft came, all indications were that the Pistons were one of the league’s top bench scorers would bring back a season ago. Weaver makes a point of having veterans on the roster, not just for support on the pitch but also in the dressing room. Burks is as good as it gets.
Hayes, Weaver’s first draft pick as the Pistons’ GM, has one season left before he switches to the restricted free hand. As of this writing, it’s unclear if the Pistons will seek to sign him for a contract extension this summer. Hayes offers offensive connectivity and defensive potential, both of which Detroit is trying to capitalize on. However, his lack of shooting ability on both the outside and the rim, as well as injuries early in his career, hampered the launch of his NBA career.
There just aren’t enough minutes of play for all five of these guys to play. Perhaps Sasser gets the rookie treatment early on, while introducing Hayes and Burks. The Pistons may not take Burks’ option by creating additional cap space but losing a trusted, experienced guard in the process. Maybe they’ll trade Burks for a future asset. Maybe Detroit will put Hayes behind before it actually has to. But at some point, a consolidation decision has to be made in some way.
Detroit has certainly become more talented with the addition of Sasser. The needs were definitely addressed. Sasser’s addition to the Pistons, however, adds another interesting twist to an offseason that has already had quite a bit of them.
(Photo by Marcus Sasser in Houston: Justin Ford / Getty Images)