The Pistons were criticized for letting Tobias Harris walk to the Spurs, but it fits a bigger picture of opening more offensive opportunities for their young stars. Between losing Harris and not adding ball-dominant players this offseason, the Pistons have set up players like Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren to step up more on offense. Next season could either be the one that forces to Detroit to add another elite secondary scorer or proves that those two can take on enough load to ease Cade Cunningham's burden.
Harris' departure doesn't have to be a mistake for Detroit
Even when Harris was balling out for the Pistons in the playoffs, they knew they needed a long-term running mate for Cunningham rather than a 34-year-old. To help with finding that younger piece, the Pistons even replaced Harris this offseason with John Collins, a player who has more supporting skills than Harris in the same position. Collins won't be the same safety blanket as Harris when things break down, but he should take advantage of openings created by teammates more effectively.
Last season, it seemed like Jalen Duren had grown into that secondary star role during the regular season. But he quickly regressed to role player levels of production in the playoffs and has now been at odds with the Pistons throughout the entire offseason. Despite that, Detroit should still have some hope that he can be a consistent creator capable of putting up 20 points per game, even in the playoffs, since he's still very young and has already shown tremendous growth.
Either Duren maintaining his level of play through the playoffs or Ausar Thompson becoming more aggressive on offense would instantly vindicate the Pistons' decision to let Harris go. If either of those improvements happened, the Pistons could essentially eliminate a sore spot from their playoff offense of 2025 and give Cunningham a star 23-year-old to lift the offense alongside him.
Thompson's growth could be even more beneficial than Duren, because Thompson seems to have so much remaining untapped potential on that end. His insane athleticism and reaction speed has been fully weaponized on defense, but Thompson doesn't bring the same intensity to offense. If he can get anywhere close to replicating twin brother Amen's impact in Houston (18 points and 5 assists per game), the Pistons will have a two-way stud on their hands.
The Pistons are playing the long game
As weird as it may sound, the Pistons are focused on more development to answer bigger-picture questions a season after winning 60 games and nearly reaching the conference finals. Despite their resounding regular season success last season, the Pistons still haven't put a ton of work into developing their entire core's offensive capabilities. They know by now that defensive intensity and Cunningham alone can carry them to a ton of wins and some postseason success, but they want more.
If the Pistons take a step back in the regular season and even the playoffs next season, it will be with the intention to solve their underlying issues in the long run. Harris was great in his run as a Piston, but was always a bandaid solution to a bigger problem. Now that he's gone, the Pistons have everything they need to decide how best to solve it.
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