Unfiltered: Boban Marjanovic

In a new series, I examine each player on the Detroit Pistons and provide my unfiltered opinion on their performance and future outlook. First up is social media darling and fan favorite Boban Marjanovic.

Before Boban Marjanovic became a social media icon and fan-favorite with the Detroit Pistons, he was a relatively unknown Serbian monster playing with the Spurs under Gregg Popovich. The Spurs have been notorious for finding gems overseas including Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Aron Baynes, but none were as physically imposing as Marjanovic.

Standing at a massive 7’3″ and 290 lbs, Marjanovic has always been an imposing force in the paint. Opposing guards would often penetrate the perimeter defense only to be met with a Serbian wall, and any opponents that dared to miss jump shots while Marjanovic was on the court were merely feeding the beast a steady diet of defensive rebounds.

In the summer of 2016, Stan Van Gundy was met with a difficult decision. Knowing that incumbent reserve center, Aron Baynes, likely would command lucrative free agent offers the following summer upon opting out of his final season, Van Gundy decided to throw a cool $7 million per year at the aforementioned Serbian beast until 2019.

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Benefiting from going against opposing second and third stringers during the 2016-17 campaign, Boban Marjanovic became a per-36 minute superstar – averaging 23.5 points, 16 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per 36. Witnessing the production that Marjanovic offered when given minutes, fans were salivating at the fact that the Serbian giant would be spelling Andre Drummond on a nightly basis.

Unfortunately, that prophecy never seemed to materialize.

Having a style of play that doesn’t seem to match the era, Boban Marjanovic found it difficult to stay on the court. Often getting beat down the court by more athletic big men, Marjanovic started to be a bit of a liability on defense. Stan Van Gundy has flirted more and more with the idea of utilizing a “stretch 5” when Andre Drummond is off the court – giving Jon Leuer some run at the Center position.

When Jon Leuer was absent with an injury against the Milwaukee Bucks, Van Gundy opted for 3rd stringer Eric Moreland to take on the reserve duties over Boban Marjanovic.

So what does this mean for our beloved Boban Marjanovic?

It means that he should be relegated to third string center for the remainder of this contract. Marjanovic’s speed (or lack thereof) when guarding opposing centers who have the ability to shoot from the perimeter will continue to be a liability for the Pistons going forward.

The personnel that he’d share the floor with as backup Center do not mesh well with his play style either. Boban Marjanovic struggles running the floor in transition so when paired with noted speedster, Ish Smith, his offensive game becomes limited and his defense is exposed on the other end of the court. It’s a small sample size but Marjanovic’s net rating is -31.4 when sharing the floor with Smith this season.

Now there ARE situations where Marjanovic would thrive outside of “garbage” minutes. If the Pistons were in dire need of a rebound (either offensive or defensive) in crunch, Marjanovic is one of the team’s best rebounders and shoots at a respectable percentage from the free throw line in the event that he is fouled immediately after grabbing the rebound.

Next: Pistons take care of visiting Pacers 114-97

However if Boban Marjanovic is to be a situational third string center at best, it might be wise for Stan Van Gundy and Jeff Bower to consider moving his salary in order to free up some cap room for next season if they can hold on to their future assets in the process.