The Detroit Pistons didn’t have much of a 3-point threat last season, and the numbers showed it. They finished near the bottom of the league in both attempts and made 3s per game, with only Duncan Robinson standing out as an elite shooter on the roster.
That’s exactly the area Trajan Langdon attacked in the offseason. Isaiah Joe, John Collins and Taurean Prince all arrived with reputations built largely on their ability to space the floor, and each one brings a different kind of shooting volume with him. Joe and Collins, in particular, could end up with even larger roles in Detroit than they had before.
The early preseason returns point in the same direction. Detroit took 30.8 3-point attempts per game last season, which ranked 29th in the NBA. Through two preseason games, the Pistons have already put up 36 against the Suns and 48 against the Wizards.
That kind of number is not going to hold once the real games begin - preseason basketball is messy by nature, full of turnovers, loose defense and inflated shot totals from deep. Still, the direction matters. A jump into the mid-30s or low-40s in attempts would be a meaningful shift for this team.
Joe, Collins and Prince combined for 14.6 3-point attempts per game last season, and Detroit may ask for even more from them now. Cade Cunningham could also nudge his own volume up by one or two attempts a night as he looks to vary his shot diet and take less punishment in the lane.
The Pistons are not trying to scrap everything that worked for them last season. But if this new version starts pulling defenses farther from the rim, it changes the geometry of the offense.
Last year, teams in the playoffs were able to crowd the paint and dare Detroit to beat them from outside. More volume from deep would make that much harder to do.
In Other News...
Pistons Are Betting On Daniss Jenkins To Fill A Real Roster Void
Detroits offseason left a familiar kind of opening on the roster: the Pistons never brought in a clear secondary ball creator, so the answer has to come from inside the building. That puts added pressure on internal development, with Ausar Thompson and Daniss Jenkins both expected to shoulder more of the ball-handling load as the team looks for someone who can steady possessions when the offense needs a different look.
Jenkins is the name worth watching because he already showed enough last season to earn a larger role, but the next step is about efficiency and trust. If he is going to become a real solution rather than just a useful stopgap, he has to cut down on turnovers and make the kind of cleaner decisions that let the Pistons lean on him in bigger moments. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Have 3 Early Preseason Standouts Fans Need To Watch
Halfway through the preseason, the Pistons have split their first two games, and a few unexpected names have already started to push their way into the conversation. Detroits early exhibition work has offered a useful look at the rotation battle, with Ebuka Okorie, Paul Reed and Ron Holland II each turning in performances that stood out for different reasons as the team sorts through its options ahead of the next tune-up.
Okorie has given the coaching staff a spark, Reed has provided steady production around the paint, and Holland showed why he remains one of the more intriguing young pieces on the roster after leading the club in scoring in the opener. None of that settles anything yet, but it does give the Pistons something worth monitoring as the preseason rolls on and the lineup picture starts to come into focus. [Read more 🡒]
John Collins Gives Pistons Fans One Big Offensive Fit Concern
John Collins has arrived in Detroit with a very different offensive profile than the one Tobias Harris brought to the power forward spot, and that distinction matters for a team still sorting out how its half-court attack will function. Through two preseason games, Collins has looked like an off-ball scorer first, the kind of big who can finish plays, cut into space and stretch a defense, while the Pistons are banking on his size and 3-point range to give them some lineup flexibility.
The fit, though, depends on what comes from the rest of the roster. Collins is not being asked to drive the offense, and the early look suggests Detroit will need more shot creation from its guards and wings if his value is going to show up the way the front office hopes. If the ball handlers can consistently put defenses in rotation, Collins can help open the floor and even slide into small-ball center looks, but the margin for error shrinks if the team expects him to do much more than finish the possession. [Read more 🡒]