The Detroit Pistons had the best third center in the league the past two seasons, a luxury few teams in the NBA enjoy.
It’s hard enough to find one good center, and even having two can be tough to manage with so many teams investing big money in guards and wings.
The Pistons had Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart and Paul Reed, and last season, Reed proved himself to be far more than a third guy, which made Beef Stew a luxury the Pistons could no longer afford with Duren getting a big raise over the summer.
It was easier to promote Reed, who makes roughly a third of what Stewart does and to bring along Tolu Smith as the minimum third guy.
But with an early injury to Jalen Duren, the Pistons are now realizing what a luxury it was to have three centers who can play.
The third center spot is suddenly important for the Pistons
When the Pistons traded Stewart, most just focused on Reed, who is arguably an upgrade on far less money, which is an easy sell.
But there was a knock-on effect that left just Tolu Smith behind him, and the Pistons are already being forced to use him even though he’s been bad to the point of looking unplayable.
The drop off from Duren to Reed isn’t that steep, but the one between Reed and Smith is massive, and that matters now that Duren is injured, and Reed often gets into foul trouble.
It’s a problem the Pistons probably should have envisioned given that their third center had to play 60+ games last season, so even though it didn’t seem like a big move, bumping Smith up to the third guy was actually a meaningful act of trust.
Again, it’s not like most teams have great third centers sitting around in case of emergency, so this isn’t to pile on Tolu or the Pistons, who had to invest their money elsewhere. But it’s possible that Detroit should have looked a little harder for a minimum veteran who could at least give them these spot minutes that Smith is now getting.
It’s tough to invest big money in the center position, especially in the backups, so what the Pistons had the last two seasons really was a luxury. It was a luxury they ultimately couldn’t afford after Duren’s new contract.
Hopefully, Tolu Smith will turn things around, and he could get his chance right away tonight, as the Pistons are playing the Hornets on the second game of a back-to-back and will need all hands on deck, and will need to control the boards, which is something we know Tolu can do.
The Pistons were spoiled the last two seasons and are now realizing how lucky they were to have three quality centers on one roster.
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