The Detroit Pistons did not have a dominant playmaker last season but instead relied on an “assist by committee” approach.
Most of their top assist guys from last season are no longer with the team, as the Pistons bought out Blake Griffin and traded both Delon Wright and Derrick Rose.
The team leaders in assists last season were Griffin (3.9), DRose (4.3), Wright (5.0), Killian Hayes (5.3) and Cory Joseph (5.5), though Joseph and Hayes played the fewest number of games with the team.
With most of those guys on other teams, who is going to lead the Detroit Pistons in assists this season? There are a couple of candidates.
Detroit Pistons: The Pistons will have more playmakers this season
Jerami Grant
Jerami Grant only averaged 2.8 assists per game last season even though he was the Pistons primary playmaker and had the highest usage rate on the team. This is a part of his game that he needs to improve but Grant was also hampered by having one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA around him, something that has hopefully changed this season.
With better shooters like Cade Cunningham and Kelly Olynyk around him, Grant should be able to rack up a few more assists per game than he had last season, but I don’t think it will be enough to lead the team.
Grant should continue to be one of the best power forwards in the Eastern Conference and will have a career year in assists but won’t lead the squad in the category.
Cory Joseph
Joseph led the team in assists per game last season, though he only played 19 games so the sample size was small. Joseph is going to have a backup role and may find himself out of the rotation if Saben Lee plays well enough, so I can’t see him replicating his numbers from last season.
Cade Cunningham
Most people would say that Cunningham is a lock to lead the Detroit Pistons in assists, as he is going to have the ball in his hands a lot and should be running the offense in the half court. But Cade is more of a scorer than just a facilitator, and only averaged 3.5 assists per game in college, though most of that was because his teammates couldn’t shoot.
If Cunningham plays more off the ball for the Pistons, he may end up leading them in scoring while his backcourt mate leads the team in assists.
Killian Hayes
According to Dwane Casey, Hayes is leading the team in assists to so far in training camp and is playing at a faster pace, which is the key to his offense.
Dwane Casey said Killian Hayes is leading the team in assists during camp so far. He's had the ball in his hands more than Cunningham so far. "I love the way he's pushing the pace."
— Offseason O (@omarisankofa) September 30, 2021
Hayes has already shown himself to be a very good passer and should get more chances this season, especially in transition. Hayes is going to play more minutes than he did last season and will have better scorers around him. I think he’ll form a dynamic pick-and-roll duo with Olynyk and be setting up guys like Cunningham and Grant all season, so I predict Hayes will average closer to 7-8 assists this season which will lead the team.