Detroit Pistons: These 4 players must be more reliable

It’s hard to say how good the 2021-22 Detroit Pistons might have been, as we rarely got to see them at full strength.

Detroit’s most commonly used 5-man lineup was Jerami Grant, Killian Hayes, Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart and Cade Cunningham, who played a whopping 21 games together.

The next most used 5-man group swapped out Hayes for Cory Joseph and played just 19 games together.

The Pistons came into the season relying heavily on first and second year players, but expected the veterans to chip in and provide some stability and leadership.

Instead, the stability came from their young guys as their “Core 4” of Bey, Stewart, Hayes and Cunningham were on the court far more than most of the veterans.

Bey started all 82 games, one of only two players in the NBA to do so. Beef Stew played in 71 games, while Killian played in 66 and Cade in 64, with only veteran Cory Joseph playing more with 65 games total.

It was the veterans that let the Detroit Pistons down, and they are going to need more next season, especially from these four guys if they are all still on the team.

The Detroit Pistons need more reliable veterans

“Availability is the best ability” is one of my favorite sports’ cliches, as it doesn’t matter how good you are if you aren’t on the floor.

Injuries are certainly part of the game, but so is avoiding and playing through them, something the Detroit veterans were unable to do this season. Injuries are not player’s fault, but it doesn’t matter why a guy is off the floor, just that he is.

The Pistons were expecting big contributions from veterans Jerami Grant and Kelly Olynyk this season, but both were injured early on and had to miss significant time. Grant was eventually shut down at the end of the season, though that was more a “tank” injury than a real one.

Nevertheless, the Pistons’ leading scorer (Grant) played just 47 games this season after playing just 54 last year. This would be my biggest concern about extending Grant, as you can’t pay a guy $28 million a year to only play 47 games.

Kelly Olynyk, who was meant to be one of the team’s primary bench scorers, played in just 40 games. Grant and Olynyk were the two highest-paid players on the team, so getting just 87 games out them combined was a disappointment.

Younger veterans Frank Jackson and Hamidou Diallo also weren’t very reliable, as Jackson played in just 53 games and Diallo in 58 total.

If the Detroit Pistons want to make a leap next year, they are going to have to get more contributions (and games) from these four players or find veterans who are more reliable.

It worked out this year since the Pistons were losing for lottery odds anyway, but once this team is actually trying to win games and compete for the postseason, they are going to need veterans who are available for more than half the season.