Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said Friday that Marcus Morris will likely start at small forward this season. It’s not terribly surprising, since SVG has a history of trust issues when it comes to rookies. But it’ll be interesting to see just how long that lasts, especially if Detroit’s rookie sensation Stanley Johnson keeps up his stellar play, which was exemplified by this explosive one-handed baseline flush against the Atlanta Hawks Friday night. You gotta hand it to him. The kid’s got moxie. In fact, not long after getting drafted No. 8 overall this summer, Johnson told reporters that he’s put a target on LeBron James’ back. Now he just has to make sure his play can keep up with his seemingly endless confidence. And that particular play above is a very promising sign. The whole sequence was made possible by Johnson’s increasing proficiency from behind the three-point line, where he’s shot a blistering 44 percent so far during the preseason. He’s also currently averaging 13.5 points per game, which is second among all rookies behind only Emmanuel Mudiay. Like Mudiay, a lot of folks around the league have picked Johnson as an early candidate for Rookie of the Year, given his NBA-ready size, skill, and athleticism, but that’s an unlikely outcome if Van Gundy is persistent with his plan to play a huge frontline that includes Andre Drummond, Ersan Ilyasova and Morris. That’s a strategy he should probably rethink, considering that his previous attempt at such a lineup failed spectacularly even when it was comprised of superior talent like Josh Smith and Greg Monroe. And that’s before you even take into account that Johnson is a prototypical player for the pace-and-space, 3-and-D era of the modern NBA. If his eye-popping preseason performance is any indication, Van Gundy won’t be able to keep him off the court for very long.
