The small forward position became especially up for grabs when the Pistons traded for Marcus Morris over the summer. A month before trading for Morris the Pistons drafted forward Stanley Johnson with the no. 8 overall pick in the draft.
Johnson boasts great poise and comfortability as a rookie and has clearly made his case to start alongside the backcourt of Reggie Jackson and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. But as Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy told Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press, Morris currently has the edge as a starter.
“I just think that’s our best lineup right now,” Van Gundy said. “It gives a little bit more size, a little more experience. That’s where my comfort level is right now, but we’ll see how it goes early in the year, or even these (last) two preseason games.”
It’s definitely more comforting to start a guy who’s been in the league for six seasons (Morris) as opposed to the one who just got here (Johnson). There will be plenty of practices and opportunities for Johnson to continue to prove his worth, and that will come of his production when he does see the floor.
Starting Morris means more size, but it also works for Van Gundy because he wants perimeter shooting threats surrounding Andre Drummond. Caldwell-Pope, Morris, and Ersan Ilyasova can all stretch the floor respectively, thus making Morris the low-risk, high reward choice to lock in the starting small forward spot for the Pistons, until otherwise.
