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Ellenson was plastered to the bench once again during his second NBA season. The 6-foot-11 big man saw action in just 38 games and averaged 4.0 points and 2.1 rebounds across 8.7 minutes. Even with Jon Leuer going down for the season with an ankle injury, Ellenson still found himself buried on the depth chart. Looking ahead to the upcoming campaign, Leuer is back to full strength and is likely going to serve as Blake Griffin's backup at power forward. Zaza Pachulia was also brought in to backup Andre Drummond at center, so at best, Ellenson will be third on the depth chart at either of those positions. Barring an in-season roster blow-up or an effort to tank and get a look at some of the younger talent on the roster, Ellenson will likely be outside the rotation for much of the 2018-19 season.
Ellenson's rookie campaign was spent in a developmental capacity, as the former 18th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft was largely limited to the team's G-League affiliate. He started 21 games for the Grand Rapids Drive and showed plenty of promise with averages of 17.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.8 three-pointers across 35.2 games. However, despite being tabbed as a floor spacing power forward coming out of college, Ellenson did shoot just 32.8 percent from the three-point line, which was a disappointment overall. Looking ahead to the 2017-18 season, Ellenson appears to be in line for much of the same. Tobias Harris and Jon Leuer are going to have first rights to the power forward minutes, while the Pistons also brought in Anthony Tolliver during free agency. That means Ellenson will be the third option at best and could fall to fourth on the depth chart if the Pistons like Tolliver's experience over Ellenson's upside. Look for him to remain outside the rotation for the bulk of the season and he could drop down to the G-League again to aid in his development.
After pulling the plug on Ersan Ilyasova in the middle of last season, the Pistons found a new potential stretch four option in the frontcourt with Ellenson, the 18th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. At 6-foot-11 and with a picturesque shooting stroke, Ellenson looks the part of the NBA's modern power forward, but his actual production from three-point range disappointed during his lone season at Marquette. While attempting 3.2 three-point shots per game, Ellenson converted on just 28.8 percent of those looks, and doesn't project to make a major impact in that department as a rookie. And though Ellenson isn't a liability on the defensive end, he's not a difference maker either, which may hurt his case for seeing major court time as a rookie. With Tobias Harris locked in as the starting power forward and free-agent pickup Jon Leuer ranking as his top backup, it's quite likely Ellenson will open his NBA career outside of coach Stan Van Gundy's rotation. If he shows further refinement with his touch from long distance across practices, his limited minutes in games with the Pistons and stints in the D-League, Ellenson could eventually become a fixture in the starting five, but that's not likely to happen in his first two NBA seasons. As such, Ellenson remains a name worth tracking in deeper dynasty leagues, but those in single-season formats can probably ignore him.