Let this be a lesson: never proclaim that your team’s rookie is going to be able to contribute positively right away unless they are FOR SURE a CAN’T MISS prospect (like LeBron) and also a top five pick.
Stanley Johnson had a great preseason, definitely. Looked really good out there, scored a bunch, had his name thrown around as part of a big three with Drummond and Jackson (actually I made that part up), generally was a positive out there. Pistons fans were really hyping him up. I don’t blame them. They forgot to take something into effect though:
Preseason is not regular season.
To his credit, Stanley is at least good enough to play some minutes initially, an accomplishment that evades many rookies, even high-pick rookies like him. He may be shooting like crud, but hey, you know, intangibles. Potential. All that good stuff. That is the stuff that he is having. ROTY is already out of reach, but MVP’s are always attainable.