As the offseason moves along, it is becoming less likely that the Detroit Pistons will make another big move before the start of the regular season.
They have a solid lineup set right now but are missing some depth at power forward behind Tobias Harris. They have some options for filling in this void, including younger players, free agency and their Traded Player Exception, but there is one route they must absolutely avoid: the dreaded double-big lineup.
The Detroit Pistons shouldn't revisit a proven failure
At the height of the Pistons’ tanking, we saw a lot of double-big lineups. The worst of it was Marvin Bagley III and James Wiseman sharing the court, but the more standard starting option was Isaiah Stewart at power forward and Jalen Duren at center. Then-coach Monty Williams hoped that Stewart could develop a three-ball and Duren’s short-roll passing could help alleviate some spacing issues caused by this lineup, but it never really worked out.
The Pistons seemed to learn their lesson last season and practically never used two bigs at the same time. Between Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart and Paul Reed, there were just a handful of minutes when two of them were on the court at the same time over the entire season. All three were better without another big on the floor. Stewart was able to wreak havoc in the defensive end in a way he couldn’t at power forward. Duren was freed up to catch lobs and roll hard to the rim when he was surrounded by guards and wings. And Reed does not have the quickness to keep up with power forwards, so he was much better employed as a defensive center.
The temptation to go double-big will be strong at times this upcoming season, especially against the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Many of them do frequently run two bigs, and some even have that built into their starting lineups. The first ones that come to mind are Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen in Cleveland, Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson in New York, and Giannis Antetokounmpo and Myles Turner in Milwaukee.
However, the thing that those pairings all have which allows them to succeed in a double-big configuration is versatility from at least one of the bigs. KAT and Turner are both willing and able 3-point shooters who can space the floor for another big. Evan Mobley has expanded his offensive game to put the ball on the floor and can cover multiple positions on the defensive end. The Pistons currently lack any bigs with versatile skills like these, so they could be easily exploited in a double-big lineup.
Hopefully the Pistons do acquire an extra backup power forward for frontcourt depth but, in the case that they don’t, they need to avoid rolling out double bigs to compensate for their lack of size elsewhere. With the big men that the Pistons currently employ, this would likely be a disaster and leave them vulnerable on both ends of the floor.