Detroit Pistons: Dennis Smith Jr. could complement Killian Hayes

Since trading for him, Dennis Smith Jr has only played 20 games for the Detroit Pistons. He has not been the asset I initially thought he would be, but he has shown improvement since his stints in New York and Dallas.

While he is averaging the lowest points per game of his career for the Detroit Pistons, he is also getting the fewest minutes he’s ever received. Despite the drop in playing time, Smith has shown improvement in almost every major category aside from scoring.

His defense is comparable to the rest of his career, and his shooting percentages have gone up, especially from deep, where he is shooting above 33 percent for the first time in his career. His pure shooting is also up.

Outside of shooting efficiency, his assists have remained stable at 3.7 per game, and his rebounding has remained steady.

In terms of numbers, he is the exact same player he was during his best NBA seasons, which is reason enough for Detroit Pistons fans to celebrate.

Detroit Pistons: Dennis Smith Jr. offers different style to Killian Hayes

With the disappearance of Hamidou Diallo, Detroit could use a high-flying, highlight-reel slasher who can score in volume off the bench. Perhaps Diallo is hurt, but Smith Jr. could provide a backup plan.

When he was traded to Detroit, a lot of fans were upset the Pistons only received a guy who was headed to the G-League. But at only 23 years old, he can be another asset in Detroit fostering young talent around emerging stars like Saddiq Bey, Jerami Grant, and their presumptive lottery pick in the 2021 Draft.

Detroit Pistons fans should not worry. Smith may not be a star or even a starter, but he has proven that he can come off the bench and offer swiss-army knife scoring, make some plays, defend at a professional level, and then sit back down.

Behind Killian Hayes, who is not the best scorer at his position, Smith could sub in, take defenses by storm as they adjust to scoring coming from the point guard position, and then sit back down and allow Hayes to return to the facilitator role.

The one-two punch of a pass-first guard in Hayes followed by a high flyer like Smith would be both practical and exciting. And if Diallo doesn’t return to form, Smith should be receiving upwards of 25 minutes a night. He can use the playing time to electrify, make some highlight-worthy dunks, and play very productive basketball.