5 reasons to believe in the Detroit Pistons in 2019-20 season
3. Internal Improvement
The best and simplest path the Pistons can take towards improving as a team is to not look outside for new players but to look inside to develop the players that they already have. So many players on the Pistons roster have room for serious growth.
We’ll start with Brown. His tough defensive effort and mature mentality earned him the trust of coach Casey, which led to him starting 56 games for the Pistons in his rookie season. While he was largely a negative offensively, Brown moved the ball well and has a smooth looking jumpshot.
It would be foolish to believe that Brown will remain as poor offensively as he was in his rookie season. With more practice and confidence, Brown will get better and he already has. This summer he had a standout performance in the Summer League in which he was the only player along with Lonzo Ball to record a triple-double at the event.
Performances like that build confidence which can only help out a young player such as Brown. We already know what a stopper he is on the defensive end, with just a bit more offensive polish Brown will be a two-way force to be reckoned with.
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Kennard is entering his third year as a pro and is coming off a breakout playoff performance in which he was forced to be the Pistons go-to scorer during Griffin’s absence. Whether Kennard is a starter or is coming off the bench this season it is hard to imagine that he will not play large minutes as an integral piece of the Pistons lineup. His career 40 percent 3-point stroke along with his playmaking and slick shot creation abilities are too valuable to the team to not be used accordingly.
Maker may be one of the biggest sleepers as far as potential on the Pistons roster. In just half a season with the Pistons it is evident that Maker is a very raw player. Coming out of high school Maker looked like he had the potential to be one of the next NBA superstars.
At 7-foot-1 he showed great mobility to go along with an accurate jumpshot and guard-like handling abilities. It is unlikely that Maker will ever fulfill the hype of being an NBA superstar like what people thought of him coming out of high school, but at just 22 years old Maker still has plenty of room to grow.
The absolute most important thing Maker can do is add muscle to his frame. Maker is 7-foot-1 but just 220 pounds. If he adds more muscle he will be able to handle the physicality of other NBA centers and will be less likely to get pushed around as he usually has up to this point.
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Maker can reasonably project to be a highly coveted role player or a quality starter who can knockdown the three at an efficient rate with his length and put the ball on the deck occasionally to drive to the rim.
Drummond is an NBA veteran at this point as this upcoming season will be his eighth. It seems like Drummond should be much older than he actually is when in reality he has yet to even have reached his statistical prime as he just recently turned 26 in early August.
Drummond has immense room for growth left. There is not much debate that Drummond is anything less than a Top 5 center in the NBA currently. Even with that, Drummond has the potential to improve in virtually every facet of his game.
Scoring wise, Drummond could improve his post game to become more dominant or improve his outside shooting to punish teams for sagging off of him. Additionally, he could further continue his already improved free throw percentage.
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Defensively, Drummond could improve his positioning to increase his value as a team defender for the Pistons.
Drummond is already such a strong NBA center but he realistically has the potential to be a top two center in the NBA if he really improved. Drummond can get as good as Drummond wants to be.
To name some other players on the Pistons roster, Mykhailiuk could become a solid rotational wing given his 6-foot-8 length, three point shooting abilities, and solid handle.
Khyri Thomas could be another three-and-D rotational player. Thomas shot the lights out of the ball in the G-League last season and lit up the Croatian national team for 26 points in the first summer league game a few months ago.
We have no clue what to expect out of Doumbouya but his blend of skill and talent has people comparing him to the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Pascal Siakam.
The Pistons young core is one that is slept on. There are so many players on the roster with very realistic potential for growth.