Pistons Notes: LeVert, Jones, Division Title, Ivey

After signing a two-year, $28.9MM contract with the Pistons last summer, Caris LeVert has had the worst statistical season of his career. His 7.5 points and 19.5 minutes per game are career lows, as is his 41.8% shooting percentage from the floor. The 31-year-old, who has made 223 career starts, is also on track to finish a season without starting a single game for the first time since he entered the league in 2016.

“It has been up-and-down for me all season,” LeVert told Coty M. Davis of The Detroit News. “Obviously, everyone wants to play well. Everyone wants to play a lot of minutes. For me, the most frustrating part has been all about my game and minutes. But, it is what it is.”

Health issues have contributed to LeVert’s struggles. He underwent surgery on his right wrist shortly before training camp, delaying his preparation for the season, then battled knee problems. He has also dealt with a more unusual health issue since then, as he informed Spencer Davies of RG.org.

“I had a weird, like, vertigo sickness for like a month-and-a-half; I just got over that a few weeks ago,” LeVert said. “So this year’s been kinda weird for me, but I feel really good right now. As far as preparation, I think just doing more as far as table work, stretching on my own, getting my sleep, diet — just to another level.”

While it’s been a somewhat disappointing year for LeVert on an individual level, he tells Davies that he has made an effort to be a positive locker-room leader as one of the elder statesmen on a younger roster. The fact that it has been a hugely successful season from a team perspective has also allowed him not to worry as much about his own struggles.

“We control our own destiny from now until the end of the season. I think it has been amazing for what we have done as a team,” LeVert told Davis. “We are building in the right direction.”

We have more out of Detroit:

• Pistons two-way player Isaac Jones has nabbed NBA G League Player of the Month honors, according to the league (Twitter link). Playing for the Motor City Cruise, Jones averaged 29.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game while shooting 68.4% from the field in March. The second-year forward began the season with Sacramento and was claimed off waivers by Detroit when the Kings cut him in November. He was waived by Detroit in early February, but the team brought him back on a two-way deal a week later.
• While winning the Central division is far less important than claiming the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference would be, the Pistons were still pleased about clinching their first division title since 2008, writes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. “You take pride in understanding how hard it is to do any of those things in this league,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “You take pride in the fact that you have a group of young guys, young men who collectively have grown and achieved certain milestones. It’s a part of the process, and we expect more. But you just respect how difficult it is to do any of those things in this league. It is a big deal for our guys and this organization to get ourselves back in that position and in position to do more, because you can’t win the level you want to win at if you don’t take those steps.”
• Bickerstaff also spoke on Tuesday about Jaden Ivey, whom he coached for a season-and-a-half before the former No. 5 overall pick was traded to Chicago in February. Ivey was waived this week due to “conduct detrimental to the team,” according to the Bulls. “I know how it’s been extremely difficult for him as far as the way he was playing, the injuries, trying to make the comeback and trying to overcome that. I don’t think we can overlook the human aspect of these things and how that impacts people and their decisions,” Bickerstaff said (Twitter link via Sankofa). “Having said that, I also believe the NBA is one of the most inclusive environments in pro sports. and it’s a genuine thing that celebrates different ethnicities, heritages, sexual preferences, whatever it may be. The NBA brings people together. … This environment should be an environment that supports that and gives people the opportunity to be the best version of themselves no matter who that is or what they believe, or what choices they may make that don’t impact or infringe on other people.”