Detroit Pistons head coach Dwane Casey says the franchise will look into possible rest days for Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose this upcoming season.
Both Griffin and Rose have undergone multiple knee surgeries in their careers and are prone to injuries.
As a result, Casey and the Pistons will most likely load manage both players so they are fresh for the playoffs:
“Well, we’re going to look at that. That’s something that we’ll look at and talk about. That’s important,” Casey told James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. “I will say this: If Blake is in uniform, he is definitely going to play. It’s not like we’re going to cut back dramatically on his minutes or anything like that because he’s that valuable to us. I’m sure we’ll look at some dates or whatever it is to rest him and to make sure we save him for the end of the year, which is important. Not only him, but also Derrick. Derrick is in a similar role. He’s in a stage of his career where, you know, the number of minutes, the number of miles he has on his body, we have to be smart, probably more so from a minutes standpoint than a games-off standpoint.
“I wouldn’t want to put a set number on (Griffin) because if we’re in a dogfight and playoff race you’re not going to say, ‘OK, there’s a game here (he can take off),’ no. If we do do that, it’s going to be fluid and keep it as a prerogative to have, more so than setting something in stone, especially late in the year or throughout the year to see where we are. I’d much rather do that than say, ‘Let’s play Blake less minutes,’ because he’s too valuable and such a rhythm player that … one thing I want to make sure that we don’t do is play him as many (consecutive) minutes. I want to keep his total the same but not give him as many (consecutive) minutes. I think we did that a couple of times, and some were situations where we were playing really well.”
Blake Griffin appeared in 75 games for the Pistons in 2018-19. The star power forward put up 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game.
Griffin did undergo a knee procedure after the season ended, but he's expected to fully participate in training camp next week.
Derrick Rose played in 51 games last season for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He averaged 18.0 points while shooting 48.2 percent from the field and 37.0 percent from beyond the arc.
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