The Pistons didn’t overhaul their roster this offseason, but one of their quieter additions could wind up mattering a lot when games get tight.
That player is John Collins, and Detroit is hoping he brings something its clutch offense badly lacked last season: variety. The Pistons were stuck in the final five minutes of close games, when everyone in the building seemed to know the script. Cade Cunningham got the ball, the rest of the floor spaced out, and the offense often looked too easy to anticipate.
Collins gives Detroit a different kind of answer.
Even if he spends most of his time at power forward, and even if he occasionally slides into a center role, he adds a set of tools Tobias Harris didn’t provide. Harris could at least create a shot for himself, but he made just 44 percent of those attempts in clutch time last season. Collins was 11 percent better in that same situation.
What makes Collins useful isn’t a post-up game. It’s everything around it.
He brings real vertical pop in the pick-and-roll, which should be a welcome change for a team that rarely used that action with Harris because defenders had little reason to fear the roll. Collins is a legitimate lob threat, so if opponents try to hedge or go over screens, he can punish them at the rim.
He also gives the Pistons something they simply didn’t have enough of: a pick-and-pop big that defenses have to respect. Last season, especially in close games, teams could cheat under screens, crowd the paint and dare almost anyone besides Duncan Robinson to shoot from deep.
Collins changes that math. He has to be accounted for beyond the 3-point line, and that alone should create more room for Cunningham and the other ball handlers.
There’s another piece to his value, too. Collins is a strong offensive rebounder, which means second-chance points and easy putbacks can become part of the late-game package. He averaged double the offensive boards Harris did last season.
Detroit didn’t make a splashy move, but Collins could end up being one of the players who matters most when the fourth quarter gets tight.
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