What each Pistons player must improve to make a leap next season

Jalen Duren: Defense, defense, defense

I think every Detroiter wants Jalen Duren to be the guy here. The fact that he hasn’t quite evolved his game as much as expected is a disappointment and has led many fans to begin including Duren in trade explorations. Jalen is still incredibly young and provides a bunch to this team. But, if he is to continue being a pillar in Detroit, this offseason he absolutely has to focus his entire summer on improving his defense. 

In the NBA, the formula for roster success is apparent. You need a floor spacing big, and you need a defensive and rebounding anchor downlow. Some teams have one person that checks both boxes (i.e Nuggets, Spurs, Thunder, etc.) but Duren clearly isn’t going to space the floor. So his value to Detroit relies solely on rebounding and defending. Rebounding, Duren is a monster. Defensively, he is a liability. He is too one dimensional at the moment, and is hindering our roster cohesion. Every day this summer for Jalen Duren has to be spent improving his defense.  

Marcus Sasser: Passing

In my final Pistons mock-draft last season, I had predicted Detroit would trade back into the first round and take Marcus Sasser. My thought process was that Killian Hayes’ time in Detroit was more than over, and Monte Morris could provide some leadership and be flipped at the deadline. That is exactly what happened, and at times, the Sasser pick proved to be the perfect move. On Multiple occasions, Marcus came in with the second unit and provided offensive firepower. One of the hottest shooters in last year’s class, Sasser could light it up.

Unfortunately, this often got him into trouble as well. This offseason, Sasser has to work on not over-dribbling and getting himself into trouble. Too many times, we saw the ball get to Marcus, and never leave his hands after that. This next season, the game should slow down even more for the guard and that should help.