Detroit Pistons: Important over/unders for the centers

Detroit Pistons: Important over/unders for the centers

I expect that both Isaiah Stewart and Marvin Bagley III will be in the opening night starting lineup for the Detroit Pistons, and that they will likely play an equal amount of time at power forward and center.

Marvin Bagley III: +/- 4 free throw attempts per game

Personally, I don’t want to see Marvin Bagley III shooting 3-point shots next season, mostly because he has been terrible at it for most of his career and has a dominant post game. Whether he starts or comes off the bench, Bagley III is going to be the Pistons’ best post option and a guy who can draw double teams and get the other team in foul trouble.

He needs to be more aggressive around the rim and look to draw those fouls, something he has not been great at in his career, as he has only averaged four or more free throw attempts once and that was in his rookie season.

The Detroit Pistons are going to have a glaring hole left by Jerami Grant when it comes to free throws, as he led the team last season. Bagley III can be one of the guys who helps pick up the slack.

He’s not a great free-throw shooter, but it’s more about drawing those fouls to get the other team in the bonus, which will benefit the guys who are good free-throw shooters and get them more attempts.

Isaiah Stewart: +/- 3 attempts from 3-point range per game

This is a big year for Isaiah Stewart, and I think he is going to be one of the surprise breakout players for the Detroit Pistons, mostly because of improvements on the offensive end.

Stewart is already a solid and versatile defender who can guard several positions, but he needs to improve on the offensive end to be considered a starting quality NBA center/power forward.

This is especially true if he is going to share the floor with MBIII and Jalen Duren, as they do their best work in the post.

Beef Stew doesn’t have to suddenly become Stephen Curry, but he has yet to average even one 3-point attempt per game in his career, so bumping that number up is imperative. Of course, he also needs to make them, but even the threat should be enough to keep defenses honest and hopefully open up the paint more for the guards and rolling bigs.

Stewart needs some kind of offensive game to reach his potential, and since he isn’t great as a roll man, getting there as a stretch-big is probably the way.