The Pistons best lineups show Trajan Langdon got it right

We had so many questions coming into this season surrounding potential lineups for the Detroit Pistons. Not only do we have a new front office, but thanks to the added veterans and remaining young core, Detroit had a dozen different lineup possibilities. Let’s take a look at which are performing the best. 

As a baseline, the league average is 113.4 points/possession both offensively and defensively. For the selections below, we filtered to include only lineups that have had 25 or more possessions together. All numbers are per Cleaning The Glass.

Highest number of possessions

Jaden Ivey, Cade Cunningham, Tim Hardaway Jr., Tobias Harris , Jalen Duren

Even though the season is still relatively green, we definitely have an early favorite based on the amount of possessions that JB Bickerstaff has used this lineup for. Jaden Ivey, Cade Cunningham, Tim Hardaway Jr., Tobias Harris and Jalen Duren have, far and away, had the most time together on the floor, with 193 possessions together.

Most Pistons fans were surprised to see THJ included in the starting lineup to start the year, but he’s continuing to see minutes with this group. Together, they have a plus/minus of -15.0, offensive points per possession of 109.3 and defensive pts/poss of 124.4.

Best offensive lineup

Jaden Ivey, Cade Cunningham, THJ, Tobias Harris, Isaiah Stewart

Coming in with an offensive points per possession of a whopping 147.7, the Jaden Ivey, Cade Cunningham, Tim Hardaway Jr., Tobias Harris, Isaiah Stewart combination has given Detroit the most offensive success this season so far.

Cade Cunningham has been great so far, as expected, and Jaden Ivey is playing at a MIP level. We covered the pleasant surprise that THJ has been thus far, but it’s important to remember that before his injury last year, he was the third leading scorer on the eventual Western Conference Champion Dallas Mavericks. He is a volume shooter who has done a great job playing alongside Cade and Ivey. 

Isaiah Stewart supplants Jalen Duren in this offensive lineup, which comes as a surprise. Duren was a walking double double last season, and while Stewart has the perimeter advantage, Duren is more effective down low. We’ll get more into the Duren/Stewart comparison later, but still somewhat a surprise here. 

The final item to note in Detroit’s top offensive lineup is Tobias Harris, who has not played well so far this year. If the Pistons can get some more support from him, this lineup can really roll. 

This lineup has a plus/minus of +62.8, but we’ll go more into that in a minute.

Best Defensive Lineup

Jaden Ivey, Cade Cunningham, Malik Beasley, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren

One of our only contrasting lineups here, is Detroit’s best defensive lineup this year. We are back to Jalen Duren down low, which is somewhat surprising given that Isaiah Stewart is Detroit's best defensive center and Jalen Duren struggles mightily in that area. But here we are, this group allowing just 77.4 points per 100 possessions. We’ve long said Duren has the defensive intangibles, just needs to put the feel and focus together. 

Subbing Hardaway Jr. out in this lineup is Malik Beasley. Malik was expected as a more likely starter than THJ, but Tim got the nod and Beasley has taken it in stride. Malik has an individual defensive rating of 117.3, which is just barely higher than the league average. 

Cade was expected to begin utilizing his size on the defensive end this season, and fans were hoping that Jaden Ivey could become even close to average on defense. Both seem to be off to a good start as Cade has shown flashes of being an average to good defender, using his 6-foot-6 frame, and Ivey has been competent on that end as well. Both guys are up from their 2023 defensive ratings of 118.8 to 114.2 for Cade, and 120.9 to 115.5 for Ivey.

Best Overall/Point Differential Lineup

Jaden Ivey, Cade Cunningham, THJ, Tobias Harris, Isaiah Stewart

As mentioned above when talking about the highest number of possessions, fans were definitely a little surprised with the starting lineup. THJ getting the nod over the likes of Fontecchio or Beasley was a shock, but so far, he isn’t the one we should be talking about. According to Cleaning the Glass, the best lineup Detroit has put out there has Isaiah Stewart plugged in as opposed to Jalen Duren. 

Duren has struggled this year, offensively, defensively, and effort-wise. He did have a nice bounceback game against Brooklyn and was better last night against LA, but Stewart has been a force down low defensively for Detroit.

That’s not to say he is playing his all time best at the moment, he’s committing a career high fouls per game, and his perimeter shooting is nonexistent. But he is still contributing to the best lineup Detroit has to offer with a point differential of +62.8 across 38 possessions.

So what does this mean?

What does this mean for Detroit this year? These numbers from each lineup tell me that Trajan Langdon has done a good job so far in adding veteran skills that are compatible with the young guys. Having Hardaway Jr. in Detroit’s best offensive lineup, and Malik Beasley in their best defensive one, is a sign that we may be well removed from the days of veterans such as Joe Harris. Depending on the matchup, Bickerstaff can deploy the lineup in which he needs. 

The other thing here that may go unnoticed is that all of these lineups actually have Jaden Ivey playing the point and Cade playing off-ball. This could very likely be a technical thing, but having Cade play at the two and Ivey bringing the ball up has been discussed in the past to properly utilize Jaden’s explosive, downhill play and Cade’s size. It will definitely be something to watch as the season continues.