6 possible free agent shooters for the Detroit Pistons
One thing has become clear during the 2021-22 season: The Detroit Pistons need shooting.
The Pistons’ shooting has been awful all season and they currently have a whopping six players shooting less than 30 percent from 3-point range.
This led to me jokingly suggesting that the Pistons petition the league to ban the 3-point shot, but barring any drastic rule changes, Detroit is going to have to add some shooters.
The 2022 NBA free agent crop is not deep in talent or shooting, but there are some guys who would at least bolster the Pistons’ bench and help improve their league-worst 3-point shooting.
The Pistons will have cap space next offseason, and they still have the possibility of trading Jerami Grant, so they have ways to add shooting to their roster.
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But before they go looking outside of the organization, the Detroit Pistons will need more from the guys they already have.
The Detroit Pistons can improve from within
When you look up and down the Detroit Pistons’ roster, you will see a few guys who can shoot but are below their norms.
Rookie Cade Cunningham is shooting just 31.4 percent from long range overall, but he has been much better after struggling initially while still trying to overcome an ankle injury. I have no doubt that he will be closer to 38-40 percent by the end of the season.
Same with Saddiq Bey, who shot 38 percent from 3-point range last season but has hit just 30 percent so far in this one. There are signs he is coming out of his slump, but he hit just 3-of-13 last night vs. the Knicks.
Frank Jackson is another guy who is way down from last season when he hit 40 percent of his 3-point shots. This season he’s at just 32.9 and has been wildly inconsistent from game to game.
Kelly Olynyk has been injured for most of the season, and his 3-point shooting will be a welcome addition once he finally comes back.
So the Detroit Pistons do have some guys who can shoot and I do think they can count on these four players to improve their overall team numbers.
But they still need a lot of help.