The Detroit Pistons won 60 games last season and were one game away from the Eastern Conference Finals, but after some shuffling in the Eastern Conference, you won’t find too many pundits who consider them a real contender.
The Pistons didn’t add a flashy name to their roster, but did tweak it in ways that should matter, especially to their half-court offense. They weren’t moves that were going to garner any national attention, but Detroit has a chance to be more versatile offensively.
But they’ll still be counting on internal improvement to make another leap, and they’ll need to get it from all of the starters, even the veterans, if they want to truly contend for a title next season.
Cade Cunningham has to do more with less
Cunningham was first team All-NBA last season, so he’s made the leap to superstardom, but there were aspects of his playoff performance that showed exactly where he can still improve.
It starts with taking better care of the ball, as Cunningham can’t average historic turnover numbers in the playoffs again. This isn’t all on him, as the Pistons put the entire burden of creating offense on his shoulders.
Cunningham has to bring his usage rate down, look for more opportunities off the ball, and try to get more from less by being more efficient and taking care of the ball.
Duncan Robinson needs to keep doing what he’s doing
Robinson is a veteran, so we know what we are going to get from him at this point, but he has quietly kept adding to his game over the last few years and needs to keep that up.
That includes attacking close outs more often, as he was surprisingly effective around the rim in the floater spot last season. That can be a weapon for him when teams close out recklessly.
Robinson also showed passing chops in the playoffs, so a few more plays off the bounce from him would be great.
Ausar Thompson has to create
Forget about the 3-point shot, as Thompson’s best chance of offensive improvement will be on-ball creation, getting into the lane and collapsing defenses.
It’s the only way teams aren’t going to sag off him, so Thompson has to find ways to create more, get his assists up and finish more effectively around the rim.
But it all starts by creating with the ball in his hands.
John Collins needs to shoot more
Collins is a knockdown 3-point shooter, but he needs to take a couple more per game to really make the defense react to his presence.
This will also open up cutting and dunking lanes for him more often if defenses have to run out on his 3-point shot.
Collins needs to increase his volume while keeping the high percentage from long range. It's not about how many shots Collins takes, but where they come from, so it would be good to see a higher percentage of his shot diet come from behind the 3-point line.
Jalen Duren needs better decision making
Duren has shown poor decision making this summer by the way he’s handled his business, which will put a huge negative spotlight on him if he does end up in Detroit.
On the court, Duren has to add something to his game other than just bullying his way to the rim, which wasn’t effective in the playoffs at all. It starts at the elbow in the short roll, where Duren has to continue to improve his decision making by other making the pass quickly, attacking off the bounce or taking the pull up mid-range from the free-throw line.
He struggled in this area in the playoffs, when he held the ball too long, allowed the defense to prepare and then tried to drive into it.
Duren has to make quicker decisions on offense and off the court, as he has a week until training camp.
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