Beyond the Toronto Raptors: Previewing an exciting Central Division
By Lee Tanner
Detroit Pistons
Key departures: Ish Smith, Wayne Ellington
Key additions: Derrick Rose, Markieff Morris, Sekou Doumbouya
The Pistons have had a rocky few seasons where they have seen themselves falling in and out of the playoff race. But since the pairing of Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond, Detroit seems to have found some consistency in their playing style and chemistry.
The Motor City snuck back into the playoffs with the eighth seed in the 2019 playoffs after missing out for a couple of years. This year they’ll be looking to build on their run last year and instead shift up one or two spots to secure a more favorable seed.
The addition of veteran experience in Derrick Rose and Markieff Morris could help raise the bar and push the Pistons into the sixth or seventh seed.
Offensive outlook
The Detroit offense is interesting, to say the least. They have two main ball handlers in Reggie Jackson and Blake Griffin. Luckily Jackson was able to develop rhythm off passes, with nearly 80 percent of his three-point field goals coming off assists, which has allowed Griffin to facilitate the offense on more plays. Unfortunately, last year there just weren’t enough consistent offensive players to keep offensive pressure for an entire game and the whole season which showed in that they ended the season with the 21st best offensive rating.
Overall, because of the deeper team and a couple more shooters being added to the team, there is a good chance that Detroit could jump up to the top half of teams offensively rather than being stuck in the bottom two thirds. But because they still don’t have the offensive powerhouses that other teams have, it’s hard seeing them getting higher than the mid-level range.
Defensive outlook
Defensively is where Detroit fans will claim their team’s hype. They ended last season with the 11th best defensive rating in the league and there is little likelihood that they begin slipping this season.
Thon Maker will be a key part of how well the Pistons do defensively. He will most likely be seen at the backup center position. If he’s able to add some weight he could be a solid defensive anchor to the second line. Pairing Morris with Maker at the four and five could prove to be a strong front-court duo.
Toronto Raptors and Pistons fans know Dwane Casey will be able to build the team defensively and will look to utilize the strengths and weaknesses of each player. A major part of their success will how strong the backups are on the defensive end. There are a lot of changes with new players being added in and a few games slip away from Detroit at the beginning of the season if the backups are not able to click defensively.
Projected Record: 45-37
Because they’ve been able to add in some depth and increase offensive options off the bench, I see the Pistons increasing their overall wins by four in comparison to last year’s 41 wins. This in conjunction with another year of Griffin, Jackson, and Drummond playing together could lead to a Pistons team being more consistent and stealing away a few games from some of the top teams.
What to watch out for is some early season turbulence and defensive chemistry issues. If they are able to start the season with little to no upsets and are able to pull together a couple of wins over some quality teams, then the Pistons could be able to hop into the seventh playoff seed.