Pistons: How Kelly Olynyk will help Cade Cunningham and Killian Hayes
Detroit Pistons: Kelly Olynyk is going to be great in the pick-and-roll with Cade Cunningham and Killian Hayes
The Detroit Pistons have two guards who are very good at running the pick-and-roll and Olynyk is only going to make them better.
Olynyk was 33rd in the NBA in points scored off the roll, and he had less frequency than any player ahead of him on the list. This also doesn’t take into account him popping out for 3-point shots.
Hayes and Cunningham are both very good at drawing in the defender and waiting until the last second to make their decision. Olynyk is going to make this very tough on defenses as they are going to have to either go over screens to stop his 3-point shooting, which will open up penetration for the guards, or go under them, which will leave him open for 3-point shots.
If the defense switches, there are going to be mismatches, as most guards can’t block a 6-foot-11 guy’s shot and most bigs can’t stay in front of Hayes or Cunningham.
Having a guy like Olynyk is going to make things easier for Cunningham and Hayes, who will have better targets, more space to operate and a real pick-and-roll threat to to work with.