Pistons confront uncomfortable culture shift

The Detroit Pistons have already traded away Isaiah Stewart, and with further losses possible, are looking at a big change in team culture. 

Stewart’s stats are replaceable, but his toughness and rim protection are harder to come by, not to mention what he meant to the team culture as a guy who was there grinding in the trenches when they were horrible and helped see them to a 60-win team. 

The Pistons are also at some risk of losing Jalen Duren, though this has been overblown, as Detroit will ultimately decide his fate. They don’t have to do any sign-and-trade that doesn’t appeal to them and can match any offer sheet he gets as a restricted free agent. 

But there is a world in which Duren is not in the Pistons’ starting five next season, as strange as that may see after it initially appeared both sides would come to a fairly drama-free deal. 

The Pistons also have Tobias Harris now into unrestricted free agency without a deal. Detroit didn’t use the early signing period to lock him up even though Trajan Langdon said it was a priority. Harris is meeting with a multitude of teams that would love his services after the way he performed in the postseason. 

If you’re keeping count, that’s almost their entire frontcourt either gone or at risk of leaving, and if all three were to go, the Pistons would be a very different team. 

Detroit is staring down a shift in culture 

Stewart, Duren and Harris were a huge part of the team’s success last season. The Pistons weren’t the most talented team to ever win 60 games, but they had solid chemistry, and these three helped create it. 

Stewart was the enforcer off the bench who almost always provided a boost of energy. Duren was Cade Cunningham’s primary partner in the pick-and-roll, and the two connected for more lobs than any duo in the NBA last season. 

Tobias Harris was the team’s security blanket and veteran leader, the guy who kept everyone calm and set an example with his work ethic. 

If the Pistons lose all three of these guys, those aren’t easy roles to replace, not just in terms of their points and rebounds but what they brought to the roster as individuals who helped build the team’s close culture. 

It’s not time to panic...yet 

All that said, there is a good chance that Duren is playing for the Pistons next season. Unless they really don’t want to pay him, it would be a wild move to ditch your top two centers without some kind of backup plan. 

The same can be said of Harris, as there is clearly mutual interest in a reunion, and he’s done enough of these to know they may have to take care of other business first. 

I am sure the Pistons don’t want to gut the team that just won 60 games and claimed the top seed in the Eastern Conference, but it’s now gone from unthinkable to possible. 

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