The Detroit Pistons were shorthanded against the Knicks last night with starting center Jalen Duren on the bench with a hamstring injury.
Paul Reed filled in nicely, especially early in the game, but when he got into foul trouble, the Pistons had to turn to rarely-used backup Tolu Smith, which is where things got dicey.
Smith was only able to stay on the floor for six minutes, but his play was enough to warrant the Pistons looking for other options.
Tolu Smith is a huge negative on offense
Smith managed to rack up four fouls in six minutes, commit a turnover, and generally look like a man who had never seen a basketball before last night, and it's been that way every time he's entered a game this season.
Smith has earned his way into the third center spot with his rebounding and rim protection, but he hasn’t done those well either, as he even let up a rebound on a free throw last night.
If Smith isn’t going to dominate the boards, or protect the rim, there isn’t much reason to have him out there, as he is negative on offense as a guy who has hands like frying pans and can’t seem to catch a ball.
Smith has appeared in three games so far, and it’s been an adventure every time someone throws it to him. He’s fumbled multiple lobs and easy passes in the lane and has been so bad that the Pistons may have to look for other answers.
Detroit doesn’t have too many other options
With Duren out, and Reed having an annoying tendency to pick up early, unnecessary fouls (DON’T FOUL ANDRE DRUMMOND 90 FEET FROM THE HOOP PLEASE), the Pistons have few other options other than Smith.
We could see Isaac Jones get some spot minutes at center, as he’s at least got some NBA experience, though his offensive game isn’t much more nuanced than Tolu Smith’s.
We could just see more of John Collins, but running Collins at the five has yielded mixed results on the season so far, as it helps with spacing, but the Pistons have a hard time keeping up on the boards if the other team has a real center on the floor.
The only issue I had with the Pistons trading Isaiah Stewart was that it left them with precious little depth, especially considering Reed was the third center last year and appeared in more than 60 games.
If Smith has to play 60+ games this season, the Pistons are in trouble, as he doesn’t currently look like an NBA player.
It was inevitable that the Pistons would need a third big man this season and seemed to feel comfortable that Tolu Smith could play that role, but it’s suddenly become important, and with Smith playing poorly, the Pistons may need to seek other answers.
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