For the foreseeable future, the Detroit Pistons need to focus on building around Cade Cunningham. And in order to do that, they need to figure out a way to generate enough offense to help him out, because they haven’t been good enough at doing that. So, next season, JB Bickerstaff should try to invest more in Deniss Jenkins, especially during the regular season.
Last year, Jenkins showed enough to prove that he can be a reliable sixth man. The type of guy to improve the team’s scoring punch on a night-to-night basis. But can he be more than that? Can he be better at setting up his teammates? Can he be a reliably consistent scorer to the point where he’s actually taking the load off Cunningham?
Bickerstaff should put him in more spots to lead the offense. He needs to be given more and more responsibility so he can be ready to step up behind Cunningham when he’s called upon.
The Pistons need to build up Daniss Jenkins
Jenkins enjoyed a breakout campaign last season. He was one of the better bench scorers in the league, making a massive jump from his rookie to his sophomore campaign.
Still, he only played 20.2 minutes per game, and he didn’t even crack the 10-points-per-game mark. He sat at 9.3 for the season, averaging 2.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists as well.
He shot 37.4% from deep range on 2.7 three-point attempts per contest, and it feels as though that volume could increase. And increasing it would definitely help Detroit’s offense.
But the playmaking is really when things get interesting, because a lot of the more advanced metrics point toward Jenkins being a pretty great secondary playmaker for the Pistons.
According to Databallr, Jenkins averaged 17.0 potential assists per 100 possessions. That means, had his teammates made the shots, he could have averaged that many assists per 100 possessions.
For context, last year, Cunningham was at 24.7 potential assists per 100. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 18.6, Luka Doncic averaged 18.1, and Jalen Brunson averaged 16.5.
A lot would have to go right for Jenkins to get to that level, or even half that level, but he has the potential. He’s a good playmaker, and if Bickerstaff uplifts him, he could be even better.
Bickerstaff and the Pistons need to invest in Jenkins, because if they develop him right next season, he could be the perfect secondary creator to play alongside Cunningham.
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