The Detroit Pistons were not a good 3-point shooting team last season. They shot a lot of them, but ended 21st in team percentage in the NBA.
There has been debate about whether the Pistons have improved their shooting enough this offseason and they are hoping the additions of Cade Cunningham and Kelly Olynyk will be enough to get them into the top half of the league.
The Pistons traded Sekou Doumbouya, which will help, as he shot just 22 percent from long range last season. The Pistons also traded Tyler Cook out for Trey Lyles which should be an upgrade, but also moved on from shooters Wayne Ellington, Svi Mykhailiuk and Deividas Sirvydis, though the latter did not play much last season.
We’ll have to wait and see if the roster changes will really improve the Pistons shooting, but Detroit does have some guys who can fill it up from long range.
Here is a ranking of their the top-5 shooters currently on the roster. I am not going to include Luka Garza in this, as he is on a two-way contract and we don’t yet know if he will start the season with the team or in the G-League.
Detroit Pistons: Best shooters on the roster #5- Frank Jackson
This might seem low, as Frank Jackson was one of the Pistons’ best 3-point shooters last season and provided some instant offense off the bench.
Jackson shot 40 percent on 3.8 attempts per game last season, which was second on the team behind Ellington’s 42.2 percent.
But Jackson needs to prove that he can do it consistently, as he was a below-average 3-point shooter before last season.
He could break into the starting lineup if he continues to shoot like this, as Cade Cunningham will need more guys around him who can spread the floor.
Jackson made a big leap as a shooter last season and The Detroit Pistons need him to keep it up.
Detroit Pistons: Best shooters on the roster #4- Jerami Grant
Jerami Grant’s shooting last year was a tale of two seasons, as he started the season red hot but then went through a huge cold stretch before sitting out a bunch of games with injuries.
Grant shot just 35 percent on 6.1 attempts last season, which is pretty good but not great. However, I think this had a lot to do with his usage rate and the fact that the Pistons didn’t have a whole lot of offensive options.
Grant was carrying a large burden as the team’s only playmaker for most of the season, and was also usually tasked with defending the other team’s best guy.
This took its toll over the course of the season and Grant’s shooting suffered. But this is guy who shot 39 and 38 percent from 3-point range the two seasons prior, so if he gets back to a reasonable usage rate, I expect that Grant to return.
Detroit Pistons: Best shooters on the roster #3- Kelly Olynyk
When one of your centers is also one of your best 3-point shooters, that’s probably not a great sign, but Olynyk is one of the better shooting bigs in the NBA.
He ended last season at 34 percent on 5.3 attempts from long range per game, but put up much better numbers than that after his trade to Houston, where he shot 39 percent.
Olynyk has shot over 40 percent from 3-point range twice in his career and I expect him to get a lot of good looks with Cade Cunningham in the pick-and-roll.
Olynyk’s shooting will help Cunningham’s development and the rookie point guard is going to return the favor by getting him a lot of open shots.
Detroit Pistons: Best shooters on the roster #2- Saddiq Bey
Saddiq Bey was one of the best rookie shooters in the history of the NBA last season and broke several records along the way.
He ended the season shooting 38 percent from long range on 6.6 attempts per game, which led the team.
This is even more impressive considering the Detroit Pistons didn’t have a lot of guys teams had to worry about and could focus on stopping Bey from getting good looks from 3-point range.
Bey’s all-around offensive game is coming along and I think he’ll be even better from 3-point range once he develops more game off the bounce and can make defenders think twice when they close out.
Detroit Pistons: Best shooters on the roster #1- Cade Cunningham
This is all speculative, as Cade Cunningham has yet to play a real game in the NBA, but I think he is going to be the Detroit Pistons’ best 3-point shooter next season.
Cunningham was a 40 percent shooter from long range in college, often with most of the other team’s defense in his face.
In Summer League, Cunningham hit 50 percent of his 3-point shots on 8.6 attempts per game. He is not going to shoot 50 percent next season, but I think he’ll be over 40 on a high number of attempts, which will instantly make him one of the best high-volume 3-point shooters in the league.
If Cunningham is going to be a superstar, it will start with his shooting, as it will open up his mid-range and post game.