It seems like the 2022-23 just started but the Detroit Pistons have already played 25 games and completed just over 30 percent of their schedule.
The jury is still out on many things, mostly because injuries have robbed us of the chance to see this team at full strength.
The Pistons were missing two key players early in the season who came back just as the injury bug hit Cade Cunningham, then Isaiah Stewart, then Saddiq Bey, then Jaden Ivey.
Last night it was Isaiah Livers (who had recently been moved into the starting lineup) who hit the injury list, so the lack of continuity has really hurt a young team that has yet to have a chance to build some chemistry and figure out how all of the pieces fit.
It’s tempting to give the Detroit Pistons an Incomplete as a team grade at this point in the season, but 25 games is enough to start to evaluate how things are going for individual players.
Here are the Pistons’ grades at the 25-game mark of the 2022-23 season.
Detroit Pistons: Player grades for the 2022-23 season so far
The forwards
The Pistons’ biggest weakness might be the forward position, as they’ve yet to have anyone other than Bogdanovic emerge as an offensive threat and they aren’t getting it done defensively.
Bojan Bogdanovic: A-
Bogdanovic does have some deficiencies on defense, but he plays hard and competes on that end, so he’s not a complete traffic cone. He’s averaging 20 points per game and has shooting splits that put him very close to the 50-40-90 club, as currently he is shooting 50/41/87, coming up just short on free throws. Few players have reached these marks while also scoring 20 a game, so Bogs has been everything the Pistons could have asked for.
He’s also a great veteran leader who isn’t afraid to call out his young teammates, so it looks like the Detroit Pistons made a smart move by extending him.
Saddiq Bey: D+
Saddiq Bey has not made the leap we were hoping for this season and is mired in the same kind of early shooting slump that he went through last year. His decline in 3-point shooting has been the most shocking, as he is currently shooting just 26 percent after going 1-of-6 again last night.
He’s been moved to the bench, which was a smart move, as he and Bogdanovic together on the floor is usually a defensive nightmare, as neither can handle quicker wings. Bey has shown some improvement off the bounce but he’s still shooting just 40 percent overall and it doesn’t make up for his complete lack of a 3-point shot.
The Detroit Pistons need Saddiq Bey to be able to make 3-point shots, it’s that simple, and right now, he isn’t doing it.
Isaiah Livers: C+
Livers has ended up starting seven games this season and has had some good moments defensively and as a glue guy, but he’s another player who hasn’t hit a high enough percentage from the 3-point line.
Livers is shooting just 35 percent from 3-point range on 3.7 attempts, both numbers that I thought would be higher this season. He took the same number of attempts last season in his 19 games and hit 42 percent of them, so there’s been a big drop off for Livers so far.
He’s another forward without great athleticism, though he’s a better defender than Bogdanovic or Bey, but it shows that the Detroit Pistons need more diversity in their forward group.
Hamidou Diallo: C
Diallo has had a few nice moments, as he’ll usually give you a burst where he makes a big defensive play and has a huge dunk in transition. He pretty much is what he is, as Diallo gives the Pistons some much-needed athleticism but can’t shoot. He’s virtually useless in the half court and is shooting 15 percent from 3-point range.
Kevin Knox: C-
Knox scored in double digits for three games in a row and then promptly disappeared, which has really been the story of his career. He’s pretty much a one-trick pony and when his 3-point shots are falling he looks great, but when they aren’t, he offers little. He’s hitting just 34 percent of his 3-point shots and takes most of them very early in the shot clock, which is not a good look when they aren’t falling.
It’s pretty clear from these grades where the Pistons need to upgrade in the future.