The Detroit Pistons were at the center of the offseason action once again yesterday, making another trade with the Knicks that sent over Nerlens Noel and Alec Burks.
Details of the trade are still being finalized, but it also appears Detroit will get two second-round picks and around $6 million in cash to take on these two salaries and allow the Knicks to clear cap space to make a run at Jalen Brunson.
It’s too early to say who won this trade, but the Knicks are almost certain to win a title if they add superstar Jalen Brunson to their already loaded roster (HUGE SARCASM ALERT).
The Detroit Pistons might not be finished, though they could certainly roll into the season with what they have, hold onto their cap space and be in position to be major players in free agency and trades again next offseason.
They also made a qualifying offer to Marvin Bagley III, making him a restricted free agent and increasing the chances he will return next season, so Detroit went from having a shortage of big men to having five guys who can play the center position.
Before we take a look at some of the potential depth chart options for the Detroit Pistons, what kinds of players are they getting in Nerlens Noel and Alec Burks?
Detroit Pistons: Nerlens Noel and Alec Burks
According to Omari Sankofa II (among others), the Pistons don’t currently have plans to buy these two players out and will bring them onto the roster next season:
Can confirm that the Pistons intend to bring Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel into next season. ESPN first.
— Offseason O (@omarisankofa) June 29, 2022
Both players offer skillsets that Detroit needs, so it makes sense, especially with a roster that is so young.
Noel is a guy I have wanted for the Pistons for ages, as he provides some toughness and the rim protection that they have lacked. He only played 25 games last season for the Knicks due to injury, but the season before he averaged 2.2 blocks in just 24 minutes per game.
You know what you are getting with Noel, which is a guy who can block shots, run the floor and will shoot a very high percentage because all he does is dunk. He’ll be a great mentor to their young bigs and will give them a veteran body to go up against in practice.
Considering Jalen Duren is going to be the youngest player in the NBA, it was smart for the Pistons to get a veteran so that they don’t have to throw an 18-year-old into a role he isn’t ready for yet.
As for Burks, he is a quality role player who can play a couple of spots and has shot over 40 percent from 3-point range over the last two seasons. Burks has also been hampered by injuries for most of his career, but he played 81 games for the Knicks last season and will give them another smart veteran to put around their young guards.
The question is what the Pistons’ depth chart is going to look like, who will start and how Dwayne Casey is going to integrate them into the rotation.
Detroit Pistons’ depth chart option #1
Before getting into this, I’ll be running on two assumptions here. The first is that Detroit re-signs Marvin Bagley III, which I think has a high probability of happening but is not a given.
The second is that they are finished making moves, which I do not believe to be the case, so this could be drastically changed by the weekend once free agency opens, as the Pistons might not be done making trades.
Let’s start with option #1, which includes 14 players (another reason I think the Pistons will make more moves):
- Cade Cunningham/Killian Hayes/Saben Lee
- Jaden Ivey/Alec Burks/Cory Joseph
- Saddiq Bey/Hamidou Diallo
- Marvin Bagley III/Kelly Olynyk/Isaiah Livers
- Isaiah Stewart/Nerlens Noel/Jalen Duren
There is a lot to talk about here. This starting five doesn’t have a lot of shooting, and though they are very athletic with Ivey and MBIII, there could be big spacing issues unless Stewart suddenly starts launching and hitting 3-point shots.
I also think positions are more-or-less irrelevant here, as Livers can play both forward spots, Olynyk, Bagley III and Stewart can all play power forward or center and Burks can play as a two-guard or small forward.
This rotation still lacks a true power forward, but has a lot of versatility and more athleticism and shooting than last season.
My biggest issue with this arrangement is that Cade Cunningham still doesn’t have many shooters around him and will likely face some of the same problems he did last season, which is why it might be better to distribute the shooters in different ways.
Detroit Pistons’ depth chart option #2
There are certainly more than two options for Dwayne Casey, and as I said, it’s likely the Pistons aren’t finished making moves.
One possibility is that Casey makes rookies Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren earn their spots, and also tries to distribute the shooting more equally, which could mean moving Ivey to the bench.
I really don’t think this will happen, but if Detroit wants more shooting in the starting five, they could switch out Ivey for Burks.
Another option would be to move Kelly Olynyk or Isaiah Livers to the starting power forward spot and push MBIII to the bench, which might be more palatable and would give the Pistons a starting five/bench that looked like this:
- Cade Cunningham/Killian Hayes
- Jaden Ivey/Alec Burks
- Saddiq Bey/Hamidou Diallo
- Kelly Olynyk/Isaiah Livers-Marvin Bagley III
- Isaiah Stewart/Nerlens Noel/Jalen Duren
This puts a little more spacing around Cade Cunningham and makes for a very fun bench unit that is super athletic and would try to run and lob teams off the floor.
Dwayne Casey certainly has more options than he did last season, but the Pistons may still have some of the same problems, namely a lack of 3-point shooting and spacing.
But the offseason is far from over, so these possible rotations may be blown out of the water by the end of the weekend.