The other starter
This is a dilemma between Galloway and Brown. We know Snell and Drummond will start and we know that even when Derrick Rose comes back, he will be coming off the bench. So, the question becomes “Brown or Galloway?”.
To answer that we’ll need to look at what those two bring on the floor and how they fit with each unit. When Rose comes back, he’ll be the primary ball-handler of the bench unit, so we’ll have that in mind as well.
Brown has played point guard the last few games and he seems to be more comfortable in that role. He can’t handle the ball much but he can attack the rim, find the roll man and kick it out to open shooters. However, the performance is inconsistent and the numbers haven’t been good.
When he shared the ball with Griffin, his usage was 11%. This year, it’s risen to 17%. You probably want Brown to do as little as possible on offense so pairing him with Griffin would help with that.
At the same time, he’s not a spot-up threat, so he definitely makes it harder for others when he’s just standing in the corner. Of course, he’s an active cutter and screener, which works when Drummond is operating from the elbow.
But when Griffin is handling and Drummond is rolling to the rim or standing near it, Brown can’t do much to help. His value comes on the defensive end of the floor. He started the season poorly but has quickly made up for it with some strong showings in the last couple of games.
He contests eight two-pointers per game, second on the team behind Drummond, and is forcing opponents to shoot almost four percent lower than their average. Putting him in the starting lineup would optimize his defensive contributions as he would be tasked to guard the opponents’ lead ball handler.
Galloway continues to be in the top 20th percentile in spot-up shooting and handoffs in the league. Of course, Griffin’s ball handling, passing and screen setting ability will allow him more space to shoot and attack.
Galloway has just been extremely efficient so far, along with multiple other Pistons players. Just marvel at the true shooting percentages. Kennard, Snell and Galloway have all been shooting over 42% on three’s on more than 4attempts per game each. Those three have been killing it shooting off screens as well.
So, a lineup of Galloway, Kennard, Snell, Griffin and Drummond is set to torch opposing defenses all over the court. It has four really good shooters for their positions and the most dominant scorer in the paint in the whole league (head-to-head with Giannis Antetokounmpo).
On defense, Galloway is not Brown athletically but he tries as much as anybody in the league. His biggest problem so far is that he’s been tasked to guard much taller players than him, like Tobias Harris and Doug McDermott
On small speedy guards, he’s done an excellent job. Most notably, he slowed down Trae Young when he was on fire. When in the starting lineup, he can take the opponents lead guard and you can expect that he can stay attached to him.
People may be able to shoot over Galloway but they can’t shake him. So take that as you will.