Pistons shooting platoon will allow less to be more for Detroit

Duncan Robinson was the only elite 3-point shooter on the Detroit Pistons last season, so found himself in the starting lineup and played nearly 28 minutes per game.  

The prior two seasons, Robinson was more of an emergency starter who mostly came off the bench, so it wasn’t ideal that he was second on the team in overall minutes last season. 

Robinson was solid, but he’s a bad defender and is probably better suited to a 6th man role and minutes at this stage of his career. 

With Isaiah Joe on board, the Pistons now have another elite shooter that should allow Robinson to play less, which could make him more effective. 

Isaiah Joe will eat into Duncan Robinson’s minutes for the Pistons 

Isaiah Joe only played about 21 minutes per game last season for OKC, as the Thunder are absolutely loaded at guard, and it was hard for any one reserve to dominate the minutes. 

With less quality depth in front of him, Joe could seize the starting role from Robinson, which is one of the reasons I am sure Joe was excited to come to Detroit, as he should have more opportunity for minutes and shots. 

Robinson played nearly 28 minutes per game, and I do expect that number to go down with Joe on the roster, and we may even see the latter overtake him in total minutes by the end of next season. 

Joe is a much better defender than Robinson, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the two flip-flip minutes per game from last season even if Robinson does hold onto the starting job. 

The Pistons can put their shooters in the best position to thrive 

Robinson probably had to play a bit more than coach JB Bickerstaff would have liked last season, especially in the playoffs, when teams were targeting him on the defensive end. 

But Bickertaff didn’t have many options, as Robinson was pretty much the only player, they had last season that demanded attention outside the 3-point arc. So, the Pistons were stuck playing one of their worst defenders just because he happened to also be their best shooter. 

That won’t be the case next year, and coach Bickerstaff will be able to pick and choose his spots and get these players into more favorable matchups. 

He can also put them on the floor at the same time to really create space and force teams to react, so the two shooters will play off of each other in several ways. 

A platoon of elite shooting is something the Pistons have not had in some time, and it should allow both of them to thrive at different times. 

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