Kevin Huerter can help unlock Pistons' offense even with cold shooting

Kevin Huerter hasn’t shot the ball well for the Detroit Pistons, but he has shown skills that can help unlock the offense in the second unit. 

Huerter was just 3-of-8 last night and hit one of his four 3-point attempts but finished with a +19 in the Pistons’ blowout win over the Nets. 

Huerter is now shooting just 40 percent overall for the Pistons and a miserable 16.7 percent from long range in limited action in nine games. 

The Pistons are looking for a spark with both Ausar Thompson and Caris LeVert out with injuries and Huerter showed how he can help provide it even if he’s not shooting well. 

Kevin Huerter keeps the ball moving for the Pistons 

Detroit’s half-court offense was noticeably crisper last night and had the kind of ball and player movement that had been lacking in their four-game slump. 

You can’t take too much away from a win over the Nets, who barely put up resistance, but the Pistons were getting the shots they wanted and kept the ball moving, with an incredible 36 assists last night to just eight turnovers. 

Four of those assists came from Huerter, who is much less of a ball stopper in the half court than Caris LeVert, who tends to overdribble and slow down the ball movement. 

Huerter looked for his shot, and when it wasn’t there, attacked immediately and then gave it up, and the threat of his shot was enough to draw the attention of the defense, which gave open looks to his teammates. 

I’m not trying to overreact to a game against a bad team, as it would be nice to see Huerter start knocking down shots, but he at least doesn’t stop the ball and is more efficient attacking off the dribble even when he doesn’t ultimately take the shot. 

The Pistons need sure hands in the second unit 

At the very least, Huerter rarely turns the ball over, an attribute the Pistons could use, especially when LeVert is coughing it up 1.4 times per game in just 20 minutes of action. 

Huerter may not be the second ball handler the Pistons need, but he’s surehanded and knows how to keep it moving when his shot is not there. 

It’s too early to tell if Huerter can make any real difference in the offense, but he’s got an opportunity to play his way into minutes with LeVert out with a sprained wrist. 

With a home back-to-back against the shorthanded 76ers and the Memphis Grizzlies, now would be a great time for the bench to get going and for Huerter to finally make some kind of meaningful impact that will justify trading for him.