The Detroit Pistons were able to defeat the Golden State Warriors on the road last night using only two big men.
Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren played a combined 63 minutes, and coach Dwane Casey went with a 9-man rotation, using just four bench players, none of whom are bigs.
Without Marvin Bagley III in the lineup, the Pistons have only veteran Nerlens Noel on their bench, who either can’t, or doesn’t want to play right now for whatever reason. He has barely gotten off the bench, which is disappointing, as it seemed like his defense would be useful coming into the season.
Noel wants to be traded, and I am sure the Detroit Pistons would be happy to grant his wish, though moving his contract will be a challenge considering he hasn’t shown that he can still play.
The Pistons were able to get away without using a backup big last night against the Warriors, who didn’t have a real center in their lineup, but that won’t always be the case.
Detroit could use another big man, but it won’t be easy, and the options are limited.
Detroit Pistons: Options for centers are limited
Today is the first day teams can sign players to 10-day contracts, so if the Pistons wanted some short-term help at center, they could go out and sign a guy.
The problem is that they would need a roster spot, so they’d have to cut someone. I have a few players in mind, but it’s unlikely owner Tom Gores is going eat a bunch of money just to get a backup center.
The Pistons could bring up a two-way from the G-League, but they don’t have any centers, so their best option might be calling up Jared Rhoden to see what he can do on the wing.
Even if the Detroit Pistons could open up a roster spot, there are limited options when it comes to veteran centers. You have a guy like Dwight Howard who is currently playing in Taiwan. Hassan Whiteside is still out there, as is DeMarcus Cousins.
But none of these options are any more appealing than Nerlens Noel, and would cost the Pistons extra dollars in a season where they aren’t winning much anyway.
Another option would be to ditch Buddy Boeheim and sign an unassigned G-League center to a two-way deal, which might be their best bet if they really think they need another big.
For now the Pistons will just roll with their young front court with a dash of Nerlens Noel, but another injury would be devastating, so it wouldn’t hurt to have a plan B in mind.