3 ways Marvin Bagley III’s role needs to change for the Pistons

Marvin Bagley III will look to get a fresh start when he debuts for the Detroit Pistons, who will use the rest of the season to see if he is a fit with their roster.

While we can take a guess at how Bagley III will fit on the Pistons depth chart, how he will actually fit into the offense and defense is a different story.

Bagley III is embroiled in the worst season of his career, seeing his minutes cut and his production with it.

The talent is there, but he hasn’t really been able to put it all together since having a promising rookie season.

The Kings often just planted Bagley III into the corner, turning him into a stretch-four at times, which is not the strength of his game.

So can the Detroit Pistons figure this talented puzzle out? How will his role need to change for him to be effective?

Marvin Bagley III needs to play big for the Detroit Pistons

First off, forget about all of this 3-point shooting. Bagley III currently takes over two 3-point shots per game but is only hitting 24 percent of them, which is the last thing the shooting-starved Pistons need.

Detroit is small up front, and has needed a big man who can run the floor, get some easy buckets and catch a lob, things that have been missing from their attack all season.

Bagley has been more effective the closer he is to the basket, as he is shooting over 60 percent on shots inside the restricted area, 50 percent from 5-9 feet, 40 percent from 10-14 feet and then it gets really ugly.

The Pistons can’t make the same mistake as the Kings and use Bagley III as a stretch four because he isn’t. They need to get him into the paint, use Kelly Olynyk as the stretch and let Bagley do what he does best, which is score in the paint.