Head coach Monty Williams of the Detroit Pistons has a lot to figure out before next season begins.
Detroit has a number of players competing for spots and minutes and nothing is set in stone for his young roster, not even the starting five.
It’s possible that Williams already has an idea of who he will use in his starting lineup, but it’s also possible that we’ll see a fair amount of shuffling in the first half of next season.
There are any number of combinations he could employ to start the game, but not all of them make sense.
Ranking 4 possible starting lineups for the Pistons next season
#4: The two-big disaster
This is what I would call the “please no” starting lineup. I don’t expect we will see this one right away, but I wouldn’t rule it out, as the Pistons seem determined to use at least one of their centers in the wrong position.
Troy Weaver has talked a lot about playing big, and this would be one way to do it:
- Cade Cunningham
- Jaden Ivey
- Bojan Bogdanovic
- James Wiseman
- Jalen Duren
With only one proven shooter on the floor, this would almost certainly be a disaster of spacing on the offensive end. It would also be problematic at the other end, as Wiseman would potentially be forced to defend the perimeter, something he’s not great at.
Detroit would likely dominate the offensive glass, but give up a ton of run outs going the other way when they didn’t convert (something we saw in Summer League). Teams would just pack the lane and beg the guards to shoot over them.
Hard pass on this one.