The Detroit Pistons have been through a roller coaster of a season as it enters its third week, with the injuries piling up. What can Detroit do to create a contingency plan at point guard?
With Reggie Jackson sidelined for at least a month due to stress reactions in his back, the Detroit Pistons are going to have to get creative in order to fill that starting point guard spot. With Derrick Rose on a minutes restriction and Tim Frazier dealing with injuries of his own, where do the Pistons go for their answer at starting point guard?
1. Point Bruce
While not naturally a point guard, Bruce Brown has shown that he is capable of running pick and rolls and setting up his teammates consistently. In the 2019 NBA Summer League, Bruce was playing all point guard and was essentially a walking triple double. He was the best player on the floor at all times during the summer league and really showed what he was capable of when he had the ball in his hands.
So far this season, Bruce has gotten off to a slow start overall. While he’s not expected to give you much on the offensive end of the floor, he also had not been playing the elite lock down defense we’d come to know him for. Many fans were calling for Dwane Casey to give his minutes to another young wing on the team, whether that be Svi Mykhailiuk or Khyri Thomas.
Then came the news of Jackson’s back injury and that he would be sidelined at least until December, and maybe longer. Not long after that fans got word that Rose and Frazier, the only other point guards on the 15 man roster, would be out for the game against the Brooklyn Nets. It started to feel like six games into the season, injuries were tearing this team apart, and there was no solution.
But in that same game against the Nets, the Pistons trotted out a starting back-court of Brown and Luke Kennard. The expectation was that we would see the Brown we had seen to start the season, so to say the least, fans were not thrilled. The thought was that Kyrie Irving would torch Brown for a huge night, and that he wouldn’t be able to contribute at all offensively.
Brown against the Nets had the best game of his career when the Pistons absolutely needed it. He put up a career high 22 points, to go along with 7 assists and an unbelievable 0 turnovers. This is a guy who had more turnovers than field goals coming into the game.
He also held Irving to 20 points, when he was averaging 32 coming into the game. Brown was phenomenal as he led the Pistons to their victory against the Nets, just like a true point guard would.
Putting Bruce at the point takes away his biggest weakness which is his outside shot. It’s similar to the Sixers putting Ben Simmons at point guard rather than playing a point guard alongside him. Running pick and roll with Bruce as the primary ball handler takes away his offensive weaknesses especially since he’s now able to make floaters and is a better finisher.
While he might not be the “point guard of the future,” at least, until Reggie Jackson returns from injury, Bruce made his case to be the starting point guard for now.