Detroit Pistons: 3 biggest questions from training camp so far

Are Isaiah Stewart, Marvin Bagley III and Jalen Duren really going to be shooting jumpers?

One of the biggest challenges coach Dwane Casey is going to have is figuring out how to use his big men most effectively.

Being able to use Isaiah Stewart or Marvin Bagley III as a power forward would give the Pistons the option of going big at times, but there are concerns about spacing considering that neither of them have really shown that they can shoot.

Same with Jalen Duren, who was mostly a dunk machine in college and rarely took a shot outside of the paint.

But coach Casey has said that he wants these guys to improve their range (I cringed) and now footage has been surfacing of all three bigs working on their 3-point shooting with assistant coaches Rashard Lewis and Andrew Jones.

Look, we see practice footage of guys working on things that they will never use in games all of the time, think of Ben Simmons or Andre Drummond launching threes in practice as an example.

But given what Casey has said, I do wonder if the bigs extending their range is part of the plan. In the case of Isaiah Stewart, it does make some sense, as he has shown he can hit them and extending his range would make the Pistons a much more versatile team defensively, as he could play with a rim-protecting big.

But count me as someone who does not want to see MBIII or Duren take a single shot outside of nine feet this year, as neither of them have ever shown that they can hit them. Duren is throwing up bricks in an empty gym in this video, so I can’t imagine what that might look like with a defender.

This is just practice of course, but it does raise the question of how Casey plans to use his bigs.