Detroit Pistons: Awards and anti-awards at just past the midway point
Detroit Pistons: Team awards and anti-awards
Defensive Player of the Year? No.
I can’t in good conscience give this award to anyone on the current Detroit Pistons, as they are not only arguably the worst defense in the league, but are headed towards the worst mark in team history.
If you had to pick one, it would probably be Killian Hayes or Isaiah Stewart, but both have a defensive rating of over 118, though I realize this is not a very good way to measure individual defenders.
The Pistons don’t have a single player averaging at least a block per game, and only have one (Hayes) who averages at least one steal.
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Their two primary forwards (Bojan Bogdanovic and Saddiq Bey) have the highest and third-highest defensive ratings for forwards in the NBA this season, respectively.
Jaden Ivey can flash into the passing lanes for steals at times, but gets blown by far more often and regularly gets caught flat-footed or watching the ball instead of his man.
Jalen Duren has shown promise and could be a great defender one day, but he’s the youngest guy in the league and is still miles away from being a good rim protector.
I think you could make the argument that the Detroit Pistons have maybe one, possibly two above-average defenders on this entire roster, so this obviously needs to be the biggest point of emphasis in the offseason, as you won’t win many games when you are allowing 120+ points.