The Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics will tip off the season today with both teams trying to answer the same question, which is who is going to be the second guy behind their superstar?
The Pistons and Celtics were polar opposites in many ways last season, as the Celtics launched a ton of 3-pointers and the Pistons went the other direction and scored most of their points in the paint, a gap Detroit hopes they have closed with the addition of more shooting in the offseason.
But one similarity between the teams is that they both feature a superstar as the engine of their offense but then have a big question mark behind them.
Unfortunately, at this stage, the Celtics may be closer to finding an answer, but things can change quickly.
The Celtics are looking for leaps and health, the Pistons for development
On paper, the Celtics have more players capable of filling the second scoring role next to Jayson Tatum, even after trading his long-time running mate Jaylen Brown over the summer.
They are hoping for a leap from Payton Pritchard in a larger role and just paid him accordingly. Pritchard averaged an efficient 17 points and five assists last season, so is primed to seize the role of second option.
The Celtics are hoping for better health out of Paul George, who is another obvious candidate to help fill the void left by Brown. Boston also has Derrick White as a reliable 15-16 points per game, so even though they lost their second-best player, they still have proven options behind Tatum.
The Pistons may have more exciting options in Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson, but both of them have far more to prove at this point in their careers. Can Duren take another leap and be closer to 25 points per game? Can Thompson start to generate more offense, knock down a few jumpers and give the Pistons closer to 15?
The good news for the Pistons is that their guys are considerably younger than their counterparts on the Celtics, so while Boston may have better options right now, that may not be the case in the near future.
Cade Cunningham and Jayson Tatum will likely cancel each other out tonight, so the outcome will come down to which secondary players step up and have a bigger night. Will it be the Boston veterans or the ascending Pistons?
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