The Detroit Pistons suffered another blow last night in their embarrassing loss to the short-handed Warriors.
Isaiah Stewart had to leave the game with what appeared to be a sprained ankle, leaving Detroit desperately thin at center. Stewart is listed as day-to-day and hopefully the injury won’t keep him out for long. He looked ready to come back in last night, so it could be minor.
Detroit was arguably thin at center before both Kelly Olynyk and Beef Stew went down with injury, but now they are left without a playable center on the roster.
Trey Lyles is not the answer, as he doesn’t defend or rebound well enough to absorb starters’ minutes at center.
Rookie Luka Garza has potential, but right now, his defense is not playable in the NBA. He was scorched in the seven minutes of run he got last night and is going to have to learn how to stay in front of guys on defense if he ever wants to be in an NBA rotation.
So what are the Detroit Pistons going to do?
Should Detroit make a trade?
One option would be to try and trade for a center.
Marvin Bagley III is the most popular name mentioned, as he still has intriguing talent but isn’t getting any minutes on the Sacramento Kings.
The Pistons could also make a move for role player like Willie Hernangomez on the New Orleans Pelicans, who is a solid veteran backup who also isn’t getting minutes on his current team and wouldn’t cost the Pistons much to acquire.
I don’t think the Pistons should make a desperation move here, as it’s not like any of these guys are going to make them contenders, but a low-risk, low-cost center acquisition is one way to help stay afloat while Beef Stew and Olynyk are out.
The Detroit Pistons can go small
Another option for the Pistons is to lean into going small by playing Jerami Grant some at the five, moving Saddiq Bey to the four and starting Hamidou Diallo at small forward with Cade Cunningham and Killian Hayes.
Diallo, Hayes, Cunningham and Bey are all plus rebounders for their position and have enough size to guard up, so the Pistons could probably get away with going small as long as Grant commits to rebounding, which he really hasn’t so far in his career.
I think these small-ball lineups can work at times but they are not a long-term solution, as teams would kill the Pistons on the boards and get a lot of easy buckets in the paint.
Neither of these options are ideal but the Detroit Pistons are going to have to do something to stay alive during a brutal 9-game stretch in the schedule.