Detroit Pistons: Predicting the depth chart after Sekou Doumbouya trade
The Detroit Pistons shocked the fanbase by trading Sekou Doumbouya and Jahlil Okafor to the Nets in exchange for four future 2nd-round picks.
Fans seemed to value Sekou Doumbouya more than Troy Weaver did, so the Reaper sent him packing in the hopes that he can find a better player with one of those 2nd-round picks.
Neither Doumbouya nor Okafor figured to be a huge part of the rotation, and now the Detroit Pistons have an open roster spot that they can either fill now or leave open to make future moves.
Coach Dwane Casey still has a ton of lineup options with or without these two players, so losing them shouldn’t be a factor in the Pistons’ success this season.
So what will the Detroit Pistons depth chart look like this season? If they don’t make any additional moves, the rotation should be more or less set, we will just have to see who earns minutes in training camp and once the games get started for real.
Detroit Pistons depth chart
PG: Killian Hayes/ Cory Joseph/Saben Lee
SG: Cade Cunningham/Hamidou Diallo/Frank Jackson
SF: Saddiq Bey/Josh Jackson/Isaiah Livers
PF: Jerami Grant/Trey Lyles
C: Isaiah Stewart/Kelly Olynyk/Luka Garza
There are some obvious strengths and weakness of this roster, as well as plenty of arguments about where guys should be on this depth chart.
It’s possible that Beef Stew will come off the bench in favor of Kelly Olynyk, who could be one of the keys to the development of Cade Cunningham and Killian Hayes.
It’s also arguable that Killian Hayes should come off the bench so that Cunningham is the full-time point guard, with someone like Frank Jackson or Hamidou Diallo joining him in the starting lineup.
Doumbouya vs. Lyles would have been a roster battle to watch, but now that Sekou is gone, that backup spot is Lyles to lose.
Will Saben Lee be able to beat out Cory Joseph for minutes? Will Isaiah Livers contribute? How about Luka Garza? There are still a lot of questions around this roster but fewer now that Troy Weaver cleared some of the logjam.
The Detroit Pistons still have one spot they can fill, so this depth chart is fluid, but unless they add another impact player, this is more or less the group we’ll be going to war with next season.