The Detroit Pistons need a boost to their offense and, particularly, its three-point shooting. The return of Langston Galloway and Tony Snell would certainly help upgrade its outside scoring.
It does not take an analytical genius to figure out what the Pistons major weakness is: They are terrible at making three-pointers. They were last season 29th out of 30 teams in three-point shooting percentage, at a woeful 32.6-percent.
Back in 2019-20, Detroit had Wayne Ellington nailing threes from everywhere, while late pickup Frank Jackson was hitting over 40-percent of his three-point shots. Rookie Saddiq Bey was breaking rookie records for threes and the big free agent signee, Jerami Grant, could make the open three-pointer.
The Pistons were a solid 35.1-percent as a team in three-pointers in 2020-21. Not exactly the Golden State Warriors, but defense’s had to respect the three-point line at least.
This past season, Ellington went to the Lakers, the Pistons best three-point shooters were frequently hurt (Grant, Kelly Olynyk) or in a slump (Jackson, Bey).
Although general manager Troy Weaver has made many moves in the off-season (most of the very good), the only new player brought in that would help their outside shooting is guard Alec Burks from the Knicks.
If Detroit wants to move into post-season contention this season (and maybe they don’t) after three lousy years, they still need to upgrade their three-point shooting.
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Although the free agent market is not the greatest this year, there are two players who have proven they can make a good amount of three-pointers for the Pistons under coach Dwane Casey: Langston Galloway and Tony Snell.
The case for Detroit Pistons bringing back Galloway and Snell
The Pistons roster is currently full, but Weaver has shown in the past he can always open up a couple spots when needed, either by cutting a low-salaried player or trading him.
Both could probably be signed for one-year contracts at the veteran minimum, so getting Snell and Galloway would have little impact on the salary cap.
Langston Galloway
He is 30 and served as a good spark off the bench in his eight-year NBA career. He played for the Pistons between 2017-20 and averaged 8.4 points while sinking 36.8-percent of his three-point attempts.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Galloway is also a great locker room guy, the high-character type Weaver likes on the team.
The Detroit bench sputtered a lot last season. They could certainly use Galloway to inject some excitement and scoring. And he can make a three-pointer!
Tony Snell
Snell is also 30, so, like Galloway, he is experienced but not ancient. Snell is 6-foot-6 so he can play small forward or shooting guard.
He played for the Pistons during the 2019-20 season, where he averaged 8.0 points and made a high-percentage 40.2-percent of his three-pointers.
That season was no fluke, in nine years, Snell is a career 39.4 shooter from three.
He certainly will be a help at the end of the game, if the Pistons are in the lead and the opponent has to foul. Beginning with his time in Detroit, Snell has not missed a foul shot in the past three years.
He also is a above-average defender, coach Casey likes that.
Since they would basically be one-year rentals, while the young players mature and grow, the fact both Galloway and Snell are familiar with Casey’s system would be beneficial. There will be no ‘breaking in’ period while they learn the system. They already know it, and have thrived in the past.
In his first year as GM, Weaver saw the team needed shooting and that time, signed Ellington right before training camp. He could do the same this season.