Trajan Langdon has mostly been applauded for the moves he’s made as president of the Detroit Pistons.
He didn’t do anything crazy in his first offseason, but instead added solid veterans to his core who are durable and can shoot, two areas where the Pistons have been horrible in recent seasons.
The focus of the offseason has really been about the shooting, as we all knew Cade Cunningham needed better spacing, an issue that Troy Weaver ignored for the last three seasons.
And the shooting is better, but there is far more to the game than shooting. The question now is not whether this team can score, but if they can stop anyone else from doing it, as the defense hasn’t seen much improvement this offseason, at least on paper.
Focus is on the shooting, but the Pistons defense needs work too
The Pistons had one of the worst defenses in the league last season no matter which metric you want to use.
They were 26th in the NBA in points allowed at just under 120 per game. They were 25th in defensive efficiency and 28th in opponent’s field goal percentage and just 20th in blocks per game. They were 27th in the league in both fast break points allowed and points in the paint allowed, so pretty much any way you look at it, the Pistons’ defense was terrible.
Tim Hardaway Jr., Malik Beasley and Tobias Harris will all help the Pistons’ offense, but these additions aren’t going to do a lot to fix the D.
Having a better offense should lead to a better defense, as teams will be taking the ball out of the net more and getting fewer chances in transition, but when you take a look at the particulars, it’s going to take some huge leaps for this team to have a passable defense.
How many good individual defenders do the Pistons have?
When you look at the current roster, the Pistons have one potentially elite defender in Ausar Thompson, a second-year player who should make a substantial leap next season. I’d bet on Ausar’s defense, as he has already shown the athleticism, instincts and will to be a great defender. Ron Holland II may get there but it’s too early to tell and he’s not likely to play big minutes right away as a rookie.
After that, the Pistons have one good defender in Isaiah Stewart, who isn’t a great shot blocker but moves well on the perimeter and can defend several positions effectively.
Then the Pistons have a group of what I would call “competent” defenders in Simone Fontecchio, Paul Reed, Cade Cunningham and the newly added veterans. The Pistons will get a boost from their additions, who are all better defenders than their counterparts from last season, which is not saying much.
It’s a big drop off from there to Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey, who are bad defensively, and Marcus Sasser, who can hold his own but has limitations because of his size.
JB Bickerstaff is going to have to find ways to mix and match the rotation to always have at least one of the two good defenders on the floor, and even then, the Pistons are going to have issues.
They aren’t particularly quick on the perimeter, so point of attack defense is going to be key, especially when you look at what is waiting for opponents in the lane.
The Detroit Pistons have no rim protection
Of the Pistons’ three big men (Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart, Paul Reed), only Reed blocked at least a shot per game last season, making him the best shot blocker on the team and he’s an undersized third big man, not someone who will play huge minutes unless there are injuries.
Behind him is wing Ausar Thompson when it comes to blocks per game.
If the Pistons are going to have mediocre to bad perimeter defenders on the floor they are going to be in trouble, as there isn’t much shot blocking in the lane to clean up mistakes.
For the Pistons to make a big leap next season on defense, they need better rim protection and to cut down on the 54 points in the paint they allowed per game, which is nearly 10 points worse than the best teams in that area.
Defense is a team skill, and hopefully just adding more competent defenders will upgrade the unit overall, but they will also need big individual leaps, especially from Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren.
It’s not an area we’ve talked much about, but it’s equally as important as shooting and it’s not clear how much the Pistons have improved.