The Detroit Pistons’ restoration process is still ongoing, so they have a talented but young roster that is probably not ready to compete for a playoff spot just yet.
The Pistons are heavy underdogs to make the playoffs, which makes sense when the best player on your team is a 19-year-old who hasn’t yet played a game in the NBA.
Cade Cunningham is going to be a star, but it won’t happen overnight, nor will the Pistons magically morph from a 20-win team into contender in one offseason.
But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t plenty to build around and the Detroit Pistons do have some specific strengths that will help speed up the process.
Detroit Pistons: Blocked shots are a strength
One of the narratives this offseason has been that the Detroit Pistons needed a rim protector. Fans tend to focus on the center position when it comes to blocked shots, and the Pistons had a guy in Mason Plumlee who wasn’t getting many of them.
But the Pistons were 8th in the NBA as a team in blocked shots last season, led by Isaiah Stewart, who will have an expanded role next season and should get even more of them.
Jerami Grant, Josh Jackson and Hamidou Diallo will chip in blocked shots from the wing and hopefully a full season of Killian Hayes and Cade Cunningham will increase the Pistons block totals as well.
Blocks are important not only because they stop the opponent from scoring but also because they start fast breaks.
The Detroit Pistons are a team that struggled to score in the half court last season, so anything that can lead to an easy bucket is something they should lean into.
While it’s true the Pistons don’t have a prolific shot blocker, they do have a lot of guys who can potentially get swats and they should be in the top-10 in that category again next season.
Detroit Pistons: Getting to the line could be a huge boost to the offense
One of the areas the Detroit Pistons were really good in last season was getting to the free-throw line.
They were 5th in attempts in the NBA, 7th in free throws made and 5th in personal fouls drawn last season, which is something they can build upon.
These numbers figure to increase, as last season the Pistons really only had one guy who drew a lot of fouls in Jerami Grant, but this season Cade Cunningham will join him in racking up the attempts.
This can be a strength, as all of the top teams get to the line a lot and have players who can draw fouls. The difference is that the good teams make them.
The Pistons were just 24th in the NBA in free throw percentage, which means they were leaving a ton of points on the free-throw line.
This could be one of the reasons that they drew so many fouls, as opponents weren’t actually scared they were going to make them.
Cunningham went to the line nearly six times per game in college and hit 84 percent of them, so he will help the team average improve.
If the Detroit Pistons can shoot better from the line, it will be a weapon for them, as they have guys who are going to draw fouls.
Detroit Pistons: Building around the defense
Historically, when the Detroit Pistons have been good, they were built around defense. It started with the Bad Boys and carried over to the Goin’ to Work era, which might have been the best defense ever assembled in the NBA.
The 2004 Pistons were the perfect defensive team with switchable players who were committed and talented on that end and really didn’t have a weakness.
Last year’s Pistons were nowhere near that, but they were 10th in the NBA in points allowed, which might surprise some people since they only won 20 games.
It really shows you just how bad their offense was, as the Pistons were pretty good at holding opponents down but it doesn’t much matter when you can’t score.
The Pistons should be building around this strength primarily, as they are already good and will add a full season of Cunningham, Killian Hayes and Hamidou Diallo.
I also think we’ll see defensive improvements from Stewart (who needs to foul less) and Saddiq Bey, who were both already very good.
This is my biggest argument for going after Ben Simmons, as the Pistons could have an elite defense to build around, which is how we’ve always done it in Detroit.
Troy Weaver clearly has a vision of position-less basketball manned by athletic guys who can defend multiple spots and he could have the Pistons in the top-five defensively soon.