What Detroit Pistons depth chart should look like after Bol Bol trade

The Detroit Pistons have traded veteran Rodney McGruder and a second-round pick to take a flyer on intriguing big man Bol Bol.

This is a great move for the Pistons, as they get to take an extended look at a potential big man talent and reward McGruder for being a good soldier by sending him to a playoff team.

McGruder wasn’t part of the future anyway, and the second-round pick was one the Pistons were getting from the Nets, so they have pretty much given up nothing for the opportunity to give Bol Bol a tryout.

Given that the Pistons needed size and rim protection, this is a home run trade for Troy Weaver in my opinion, even though it wasn’t for a big name guy.

Bol Bol should be able to crack the rotation, but the question is where the 7-foot-2 forward/center fits into the Pistons depth chart.

Detroit Pistons depth chart with Bol Bol

With Jerami Grant still out with injury, Bol Bol’s first crack at the rotation might be at power forward, but he could also get some time as the third center in certain lineups.

• Killian Hayes/ Cory Joseph/ Saben Lee
• Cade Cunningham/ Frank Jackson
• Hamidou Diallo/ Josh Jackson
• Saddiq Bey/ Bol Bol
• Isaiah Stewart/ Trey Lyles/ ?

I do think Bol Bol will slot in as the backup power forward and get some immediate minutes there. Bol got little playing time with the Denver Nuggets, but when he did, it was often with center Niklola Jokic also on the floor.

Of course, Jokic is one of the most versatile bigs of all time and the Pistons certainly don’t have anyone like him (no one does), so it might be more difficult to put Bol on the floor with another one of the Pistons’ bigs.

The real question is whether the Detroit Pistons see him as a center or a power forward. If it’s a center, then Bol could push Luka Garza back to the G-League and take over minutes as the third center.

But the Pistons might also want to try Bol and Garza together, though that could be an absolute disaster given their lack of speed.

It will be interesting to see how coach Dwane Casey works Bol Bol into the rotation and whether he can do enough to stick around with the Detroit Pistons past this season as either a backup power forward or center.