5 reasons why the Detroit Pistons won’t make the playoffs
4. Lack of Elite Talent and Floor Spacing
In this era of the NBA, the theme is dynamic duos. Big 3’s to super teams, we are now on to dynamic duos after the most hectic offseason in the history of sports.
Detroit’s dynamic duo is of course, Drummond and Griffin. When stacked up against the rest of the league’s duos, the Pistons are on the fringe of playoffs in the East. Giannis and Khris Middleton, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker, Malcolm Brogdon and Victor Oladipo, Kyrie Irving, (Durant when healthy) and DeAndre Jordan, Trae Young and John Collins, Jimmy Butler and Justise Winslow, Kyle Lowry and Siakam, and Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon are all better or the same level as the Pistons.
analysis. How the Pistons addressed their 3-point shooting woes. light
Obviously, a team needs more than two players and outside of the Pistons’ top seven players, the talent level falls off considerably.
Floor spacing is another problem for the Pistons. While the Pistons, on paper, were good 3-point shooters, that was in the hands of a select few players, some of which we lost. Outside of Snell and Kennard, the Pistons don’t have many knockdown three-point shooters on the roster after losing Bullock and Ellington.
analysis. Andre Drummond will be a 3-point asset in 2019-20. light
Even worse is that Bruce Brown and Drummond, two of the Pistons starters last season are liabilities when it comes to shooting, something teams exposed last season. I remember a few times where opposing centers would give Drummond10-20 feet of space when he had the ball on the 3-point line, taunting him to shoot.
Same goes for Brown but not nearly as bad. Both players have been working on these problems this season but it’s still an issue until we see some quality shooting from every player on the roster. If Brown and Drummond will be able to match their defensive prowess with offense, then we are talking about a contender.