Detroit Pistons: One thing every player should be working on right now
Detroit Pistons: One thing every player should be working on right now
Centers
Marvin Bagley III: Passing
I was tempted to say “Getting traded” but that’s for his agent to work out, so I’ll stick with this one. A lot of people would say “3-point shooting” here but MBIII has already proven he can’t shoot from range and should probably quit trying.
Playing him with a second big man was a disaster on both ends, and since he’s not going to space the floor with his shooting, Bagley III needs to become a better passer. He’s a bit of a black hole when he gets the ball in the paint, which stifles the offense and makes the Pistons easy to guard.
He needs to work on passing out of double teams, looking for cutters and spot-up shooters instead of just his own shot.
Related Story. Would Pistons do this trade of Marvin Bagley III to the Nets?. light
James Wiseman: Defending the rim
James Wiseman has all of the tools to be a star in the NBA, but he has yet to put them all together, especially on the defensive end. The reason teams like the Cavaliers are able to get away with playing two centers (though it didn’t work well in the playoffs) is that they are elite rim protectors.
Steve Kerr talked about Wiseman’s lack of defensive awareness and rim protection as primary reasons he wasn’t able to get minutes with the Warriors, and he absolutely must improve in those areas.
Wiseman is decent at switching on the perimeter, but finds himself out of position a lot in the paint and contesting shots that he shouldn’t and missing ones that he should. Hopefully he’ll be working with a great big-man coach this summer (Rasheed Wallace anyone?) to help improve his defense around the rim, as a guy with his size, length and athleticism should be blocking more than .8 shots per game.
Jalen Duren: Defending the rim
You might have noticed a theme here. Hopefully the Detroit Pistons’ perimeter defense won’t be as porous next season, but when it is, they need their big men to do more around the rim.
Like Wiseman, Duren has all of the tools to be a great defender and hopefully the league’s youngest player is working on that right now. He’s already ahead of schedule as a passer, and was a pretty good roll man in the PnR with Jaden Ivey, so working on his defense should be the priority.
Duren’s ceiling may ultimately be defined by two things: Can he be an elite defender? Can he develop some kind of offense?
He doesn’t need to worry about the offense yet, and a jump shot will come over time, but if Duren can make a big leap defensively, it will help speed the rebuild up next season.