The Detroit Pistons landed Duncan Robinson this summer in a sign-and-trade with the Heat, signing the 31-year-old to a three-year, $48 million deal. His contract drew immediate criticism, but his salary for the 2026-27 season is partially guaranteed, and his salary for 2027-28 is non-guaranteed. Detroit wanted to protect itself in case the signing didn't work out, but so far, it has.
Robinson is averaging 12.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game, shooting 43.8% from the field and 40.1% from three on an average of 7.6 attempts per game. He's averaging a career-high 32.1 minutes across 20 games, all starts.
He's essential to Detroit's offense as the team's best shooter by a wide margin. Robinson leads the team with 3.1 made threes per game (shocker), followed by Cade Cunningham, who is averaging 1.9 makes per game. Cunningham is also behind Robinson, averaging 6.3 threes per game, but as good as he is, he's shooting an ugly 30.1% from deep.
Jaden Ivey is still getting his footing after missing the first few weeks of the season. The sample size is small, but in six games, Ivey is shooting 31.3% from three. The Pistons hope that number will trend upward toward what it was last season before he got hurt, when he shot 40.9% from three.
All of that is to say that Robinson is more important to Detroit than maybe Detroit even thought he'd be.
Duncan Robinson signing is already paying off for the Pistons
For all of that talk about New York and Cleveland over the summer, it's Detroit that sits first in the East after the first quarter of the season with a 17-4 record, three games ahead of the No. 2 Knicks.
The Pistons are doing so even though they're shooting 35.2% from three as a team, 21st in the league. They average 11 made threes per game, second-worst in the league, on 31.1 attempts per game, third-worst in the league.
Robinson missed his first game of the season on Monday due to a sprained ankle, which happened against the Heat on Saturday. Detroit rallied to beat Atlanta, 99-98, but as a team, the Pistons shot 5-of-26 (19%) from three. The only starter who made a three-pointer was Tobias Harris, as the starters shot 1-of-17 from deep.
Do you think they missed Duncan?
Their offense doesn't look the same without Robinson's shooting, as evidenced in the win over the Hawks. Given that Detroit's top three-point shooter from last season, Malik Beasley, is still under investigation by the NBA, landing Robinson looks even better for the Pistons. They can't afford to be without his shooting, so hopefully, he'll be back in the starting lineup on Wednesday.