Three Detroit Pistons who could see decreased roles in 2019-2020

Thon Maker

I’m not brave enough to claim that Thon Maker will be the odd one out with a looming roster cut still set to take place before the regular season. Right now, the Pistons are guard heavy, so an extra big man makes sense where they can find (or already have) one.

However, Maker is the only one on this list who I think will see a decreased role because of a poor preseason performance. Last season, Maker was effectively the team’s back up power forward (and at times filled in at center). Bringing in bigs Morris and Wood, who both proved more efficient than Maker over the course of the preseason, means that Casey will not be forced to rely on Maker as a main backup option and Maker is no longer half of the team’s three-point shooting bigs (arguably his main if not only appeal).

While Maker at times impressed with his rebounding (grabbing 10 boards against Cleveland in just 17 minutes and snagging 10 again in 26 minutes against Philadelphia) he failed to show any noticeable improvement from last year. At times, Maker even looked lost on defense and out of control of his own body.

Maker remained stagnant at a moment when he needed to move forward if he was going to compete for playing time that Morris will likely see as the go-to backup four and Wood is outplaying him for at the backup five.

I won’t claim that Maker will be cut, because he could play a necessary role on Griffin rest nights, but at the same time I would not be surprised if he’s sent off in some kind of last minute trade package.