The Detroit Pistons will have some new faces on the roster next season but some of the same problems will linger.
The Pistons have a young roster, so we can expect some of the mistakes and missteps that go along with having an inexperienced team.
I have identified three areas of weakness on the roster, all of which are holdovers from last season and could even be worse next year.
We’ll be talking about these three things all season as the Detroit Pistons restoration continues.
Detroit Pistons: The Pistons were a terrible rebounding team that could get worse
Rebounding is probably the most controversial statistic in basketball these days, as some pundits will claim that it is not important in the 3-point era.
Rebounding certainly doesn’t have the reputation it once did, ask Andre Drummond, one of the league’s best rebounders, who went from a max guy to a veteran minimum overnight as the game passed him by.
Teams are no longer selling out for rebounds, especially on the offensive end, as getting back to defend the transition 3-pointer is analytically smarter than sending guys to the offensive glass.
But the Detroit Pistons were 25th in total rebounding last season, and 26th in defensive rebounding, which is leading to a lot of extra shots for the opponent after the Pistons fail to close out defensive possessions.
Defensive rebounding is the final step to a stop and allows teams to get out and run, so I am far more worried about defensive boards than offensive. The Pistons lost their best rebounder, Mason Plumlee and replaced him with a similar guy in Kelly Olynyk.
Other than Isaiah Stewart and Jerami Grant, the Pistons don’t have any plus rebounders. Detroit was 19th in opponent’s offensive rebounds allowed and 29th in field goal attempts last season, partly because they were not a good rebounding team.
The additions they made are not likely to make the Pistons any better, so this will be something to watch all season.
The Detroit Pistons might lead the league in turnovers
The Detroit Pistons turned the ball over a ton last season, something we talked a lot about as it was costing them games.
The reason coaches focus on this so much is that turnovers lead to run outs, which lead to easy buckets on the other end. Detroit was an offensively challenged team last season who was 29th in field goal attempts partially because they turned the ball over so much.
The Pistons were 25th in the NBA in turnovers last season, with guys like Killian Hayes and Josh Jackson leading the way.
I can’t see this problem getting a whole lot better, as the Pistons will have another rookie point guard in Cade Cunningham, whose biggest weakness might be turning the ball over.
I expect Cunningham to go through some growing pains, and Hayes and Jackson are still going to be problematic in that area as well.
In other words, the Detroit Pistons might fall even further down this list if some of their young players don’t clean up their handles. I expect we’ll see some sloppy basketball early on and the Pistons could very well lead the league in turnovers next season.
Detroit Pistons: Getting to the free throw line and missing
In a recent article about the biggest strengths the Pistons roster, I wrote about getting to the free throw line.
The Pistons were 5th in the NBA in free-throw attempts last season, which is something they should build on, as free throws are one way an offensively challenged team can get easy points.
The problem is that the Pistons don’t make them once they are there, and I am not sure this problem is going to get much better. The Pistons were 24th in the NBA in free throw percentage last season, shooting a pathetic 75 percent as a team.
The Pistons didn’t have a single player at 90 percent or above and only had five who were above 80 percent and most of those guys didn’t shoot very many.
The Pistons did lose Mason Plumlee, who is an awful free-throw shooter, but replaced him with Kelly Olynyk, who might be even worse. Getting rid of Blake Griffin will help, as will the addition of Cade Cunningham, who shot 84 percent from the line in college and should get better.
The Detroit Pistons will have at least six players who absolutely stunk from the line last season, so without internal improvement, they are going to be in this spot again. Let’s hope that guys like Saddiq Bey, Killian Hayes and Frank Jackson can get to the line more often, as they shoot above 80 percent at least.
This probably annoys me more than any other weakness, as children can shoot free throws, so it is unacceptable that professionals can’t make them at a higher rate.