Tobias Harris has found himself on the injury report with a right ankle sprain, which could be a huge blow for the Detroit Pistons. Harris has played a big role for the Pistons this season and is the only legitimate power forward on the roster. Any injury to him can have major ramifications throughout the depth chart.
The Pistons are still sorely lacking in power forward depth
It’s more bad news for a Detroit team that has already seen injury struggles with their guards. Harris’ injury could have similar consequences due to the construction of the Pistons roster. Last season, they did have a legitimate backup power forward in Simone Fontecchio, but he was dealt to Miami in exchange for Duncan Robinson.
Surprisingly, the Pistons did not fill in Fontecchio‘s position on the depth chart during free agency. They signed some veterans who can moonlight as a power forward, but not anyone who has the size to match up with the elite 4s cropping up across the league.
It could be a major problem against the Memphis Grizzlies, who run much of their offense through former All-Star Jaren Jackson Jr. Jackson is one of the league's best power forwards on both ends of the ball and his size at 6’10” makes him a nightmare for smaller players. Jackson is also a prolific shooter at his position and launched five three-pointers a game last season while hitting 38% of them. That sort of stretch shooting ability from big men has been a weakness for Jalen Duren to defend.
Given the personnel of the grizzlies team, the Pistons might have to employ the rare double-big strategy and start Isaiah Stewart on Jackson. Stew typically plays backup center but has the foot speed to keep up with bigger power forwards like Jackson. He’s also ramped up his three-point shooting in an effort to provide spacing at either the power forward or center positions.
On the other hand, the Pistons could rely on some smaller and less experienced players to fill in the power forward role. Ausar Thompson and Ron Holland II are both tenacious defenders, but don’t have experience playing in the post as a power forward. Opening more minutes for those two isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but thrusting them into a brand new role might have negative consequences.
Whichever way you look at it, the Pistons options at power forward aside from Tobias Harris are not ideal. It’s clear that they need someone with the size and experience of the position to serve as a backup and even take on the starting spot when Harris is injured. Viable depth at every position is becoming an increasing trend among the league's contenders and the Pistons will need to follow suit if they want to join the inner circle.