Detroit Pistons: What if the bench is better than starters?

The Detroit Pistons look to have a strong bench this year. That is a rare asset for a team that went 20-52 last year. Actually, so far, they are doing better than the starters. What if this trend continues?

The Pistons have a group with size, experience, shooting and the athleticism to shut down most opponents.  Sounds like a nice squad, but there is one caveat to it … those are not the starters.

Following an open scrimmage and two exhibition games, the Pistons substitutes have looked better than the starters. In some moments, a lot better.

Now, this is all with the major caveat that No. 1 overall selection Cade Cunningham has not played a minute due to an ankle injury. The other projected starter in the backcourt, Killian Hayes, is just coming off an ankle injury of his own.

And, of course, the players who will be coming off the bench are fighting for playing time. There are 15 players on the official roster (plus two two-way players who can be on the team for up to 45 days), and coach Dwane Casey has said he will probably have 10-11 players in his rotation. So those guys are looking to impress the coach.

In the exhibition opener against the San Antonio Spurs, the bench looked very sharp, keying the Pistons to a 115-105 victory. In plus/minus (how the team did while a player was on the floor), the Detroit starters were a combined minus-19. The five main subs, Trey Lyles, Josh Jackson, Hamidou Diallo, Cory Joseph and Kelly Olynyk, went +81.

A few days later, the subs and the starters scrimmaged in the team’s Open Practice. It was not close:

In its last preseason game at Memphis, no one looked good, as they got blown out, 127-92. The bench’s main 5, went a not good total of minus-79, but the five starters were an awful minus-91.

Now, Detroit has not had its expected starting lineup the entire preseason. But one would think starters would outplay subs because … well, that is why they are starting.

Olympic gold medal winner Jerami Grant has played both games, as have USA Select team members Isaiah Stewart and Saddiq Bey (although he did not play in the second half against Memphis with a bad ankle) Hayes, the No. 7 overall pick in last year’s draft, played against Memphis.

That is a lot of talent but, it is also inexperienced talent. They are all second-year players except for Grant, and he is just in his second season assuming the role of main offensive threat.

So why are the Detroit Pistons subs outplaying the starters?

The Pistons bench has no all-stars or Olympic medal winners, but they do have a bunch of guys with NBA playing experience, and some of them have spent a lot of time playing together.

Olynyk, Joseph and Lyles have spent years playing together for the Canadian Olympic team. Josh Jackson and Hamidou Diallo are extremely athletic wings who can be lockdown defenders. Jackson can also shoot from outside, while Diallo uses his athleticism to put a lot of pressure on defenses when he goes to the basket.

And we are not really even counting Frank Jackson, who should be a major contributor off the bench.  Coming off an ankle injury (seriously, get these guys high tops, sprained ankles all over the place), he played for the bench team in the scrimmage but took Cunningham’s starting spot against the Grizzlies.

It is an odd combo of inexperienced starters and seasoned vets as the substitutes Usually it is the other way around, but Pistons general manager Troy Weaver thinks a lot out of the box.

Instead of throwing his young core to the wolves (not Timberwolves), Weaver has a Plan B. If things go wrong at the start of a game, Detroit will be able to put out a lineup of solid veterans, and those guys can shoot from outside, a weakness last year.

But can coach Casey keep the same lineups intact if the starters continually get run over, only to have the subs come to the rescue and outplay the opposition.

At some point, Casey would be forced to mix things up, maybe Diallo or Josh Jackson starting instead of the offensively-challenged (so far) Hayes. Possibly Olynyk replaces Stewart at center.

Right now, the subs are ahead of the starters, and maybe since they have more experience and played together more, it might not be a total surprise. And, we can not forget, Cunningham has yet to play, he will give a big boost to the starting lineup.

One would expect, when all the starters are back and healthy, their play will improve. The bench doing well is a positive sign for the season, as the Pistons have shown they will have depth and feature a lot of players who could beat you.