Detroit Pistons: 5 positives to take away from the preseason

Detroit Pistons: Positives from the preseason

Isaiah Stewart’s shooting

One of the big questions coming into this season was whether Isaiah Stewart will be able to shoot well enough to play the four with either MBIII, Jalen Duren or Nerlens Noel on the floor. Stewart is a plus defender who can guard centers as well as switch on the perimeter, so the Pistons need him out there defensively, but  will there be enough spacing on offense?

Stewart started to answer those questions, hitting 51 percent of his shots in preseason, including 38 percent from 3-point range. This culminated in a 4-of-10 effort against the Grizzlies in a game where Memphis’ game plan was clearly to sag off Stew and let him shoot.

I don’t think the Detroit Pistons should want Beef Stew launching 10 shots from 3-point range every game, but he showed he can hit them and has the confidence to keep shooting even after missing a few. As his confidence grows and he continues to hit them, teams are eventually going to have to respect that, which should help open up space for Cade and Ivey to go to work.

People need to remember that Stewart is still just 21-years-old and has already come a long way. He’s not there yet, but you have to be optimistic about the way he’s evolving on both ends.

Killian Hayes being aggressive

Another bright spot of the preseason was Killian Hayes, who finally started to show flashes of an improved offensive game. Hayes has the talent, so often it comes down to confidence, not hesitating to drive or take shots and simply being aggressive on that end.

The results won’t always be there, but the most important thing was that Killian was aggressive and didn’t hesitate to take shots. He finished the preseason fourth in shot attempts with over 10 per game, which is the minimum Detroit wants out of him off the bench.

He showed the full package against OKC, hitting some floaters, getting all the way to the rim for strong finishes and knocking down open 3-point shots without hesitating:

This is the Killian Hayes we’ve been waiting to see, as he has always had the talent but just needs reps and confidence. This is also the first time he’s been completely healthy in awhile, which can’t hurt, so let’s hope this positive momentum carries over to the regular season and we see an aggressive Killian Hayes evolve into a two-way weapon off the bench.