The Detroit Pistons didn’t make the kind of offseason splash that changes the conversation overnight. That’s why the focus has shifted to something simpler, and maybe more important: who inside the building can take a real jump.
In a revamped Eastern Conference, the road ahead looks tougher at both ends of the standings. The top is stronger, and the bottom is better too, which means Detroit’s path back to the number one seed won’t be nearly as straightforward. The Pistons still have some real questions around secondary scoring and shot creation, but a few breakout seasons could make all the noise about a quiet offseason disappear fast.
Ausar Thompson is one of the biggest swing pieces. Nobody is expecting him to suddenly become a 3-point shooter, and he doesn’t need to.
His twin brother Amen showed a different route last season with the Rockets, averaging over 18 points per game despite being an even worse 3-point shooter than Ausar. For Thompson, the next step starts with cleaner ball handling and better finishing.
He can get where he wants to go, but he still gets loose with the ball in traffic and has trouble around the floater area. Last season, he shot 65 percent on attempts under five feet, but only 32 percent from 5-9 feet, and that’s the gap he has to close.
If he gets more aggressive attacking the rim off the bounce, he can grow into the Pistons’ second scorer.
Isaiah Joe is another name worth watching. He’s been a steady role player for the OKC Thunder, but he was buried in a deep rotation and averaged just 21 minutes per game.
Detroit could give him a bigger lane, with a chance to be one of the first players off the bench and possibly even move into the starting lineup if the Pistons eventually need Duncan Robinson’s salary in a trade. The question now is whether Joe is simply a good role player on a strong team, or whether there’s another gear waiting.
Ron Holland II has a different challenge. He barely played in the playoffs and made it clear he’s not happy about that, so this offseason is about forcing his way into the postseason rotation next time around.
The defense is already there, and he brings plenty of chaos, but he needs some kind of offensive threat to go with it. Until he proves he can consistently knock down a jumper, opponents won’t have much reason to guard him.
For a team that has talked plenty about its lack of two-way wings, Holland and Thompson both have a chance to change that.
Paul Reed is in line for a bigger stage too. He’s long been known as an energy-and-hustle big, but last season hinted at more.
He showed a smarter touch around the rim and a little more craft than just being a junkyard dog. Now he’s set to get a bigger role as the backup center, and if his playoffs and per-36 numbers carry over, he could be a major upgrade from Isaiah Stewart.
There’s also pressure on Daniss Jenkins and Ebuka Okorie to give Detroit something at point guard. The hope is that Jenkins settles in and becomes a calmer backup option. If that doesn’t happen, the rookie Okorie will be right there behind him.
That’s the real path for the Pistons. If enough of these players improve at once, the quiet offseason won’t matter nearly as much.
In Other News...
Pistons Fans Have Every Right To Question This Offseason
Detroit spent the opening stretch of free agency trying to make life easier for Cade Cunningham, adding Isaiah Joe, John Collins, Taurean Prince and Gary Harris with an obvious eye toward improving the perimeter shooting around him. On paper, those are sensible additions for a team that has been searching for spacing and stability, and they do address some of the rosters most glaring needs.
Still, the larger question hanging over the offseason is whether those moves are enough to change the Pistons ceiling, especially after the criticism aimed at Trajan Langdon for not pushing harder to land a true co-star. The front office also has another important decision looming with Jalen Duren, whose contract situation could shape the franchises next steps just as the rest of the East keeps getting tougher. [Read more 🡒]
An Old Pistons Draft Wound Just Got Painfully Relevant Again
Mario Hezonja is getting another NBA look, this time with Cleveland after eight seasons in Europe with Real Madrid, and for Pistons fans it brings back one of those draft-night what-ifs that never really went away. Hezonja was the kind of wing Detroit could have used then and could still use now, a player who left the league young, rebuilt his value overseas and now gets a chance to see whether that growth translates back across the Atlantic.
The painful part in Detroit is how closely his name is tied to the 2015 draft, when the Pistons went a different direction and took Stanley Johnson instead. Hezonja has long been viewed as the sort of swingman Stan Van Gundy liked, and even if his NBA return is still just a chance, the comparison is hard to avoid for a franchise still searching for more size and shooting on the wing. [Read more 🡒]