Both directly and indirectly, new Detroit Pistons head coach Monty Williams has made it clear with what he expects this season from a group that was the worst in the NBA last season.
Every decision that is made seems to have defense first and foremost. Development is taken into account. But this is how minutes are earned. The Pistons are only a day and a half into training camp, but Williams has already shared some of his thoughts on his possible rotation if basketball is a factor.
Let’s start with the most obvious: After practice Tuesday morning, Williams said it’s “currently in the works” to figure out whether James Wiseman or Marvin Bagley will be the “most likely” replacement. If you’ve been following along here over the last few months, Williams’ comments align with my beliefs this summer, namely that there’s only room for one more “traditional” big man behind Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart.
Although general manager Troy Weaver has brought together young big men over the last two seasons, there was always a sense that he was scouting for talent and not necessarily putting together a perfect rotation, which makes sense for a rebuilding franchise that doesn’t have any to speak of Assets available to make a fresh start.
Detroit had to start from scratch as Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson had little to no value in the league in 2020 when the Pistons pivoted. They lacked the talent. However, before the Pistons could build greater cohesion, they had to sign young, talented players.
Now, three years after the rebuild began, it’s time to put the pieces together. The frontcourt, more than any other position, needs the most clarification.
“It’s a tough situation because both guys… I wouldn’t say they deserve it, but they have the talent,” Williams said. “Bagley has an extensive body of work. Wiseman is learning and is still young. Both have enough skills to dominate this place.
“We’ll just wait and see who steps up and takes it over.”
With the decision on Wiseman and Bagley looming, their battle leads to another conclusion: Stewart is the clubhouse leader and the starting power forward. If Wiseman or Bagley fight for the backup spot, that means Williams plans to use Stewart alongside Duren, who appears to be the starting player on Day 1.
The emphasis on defense and the belief in Stewart as an adequate space defender for forward movement puts him in the starting lineup. Stewart is arguably one of the team’s top two or three defenders and has the versatility that Williams certainly covets.
Additionally, the strain on defense makes predicting the starting lineup a little more difficult. Of course, most would have assumed that the starting group on day one would look like this: Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Bojan Bogdanović, Stewart and Duren. However, after being with Williams for the last three days and hearing him talk about what matters most, I’m not as confident today that this will be the starting group, although I’m still leaning towards it.
Defensively, with Cunningham, Stewart and Duren, you feel good when you have another solid, ball-stopping defender at your side. It’s Ivey and Bogdanović who pose the most questions defensively and are, in my opinion, the two most likely to be passed if there is a surprise change of direction among the starters. Rookie Ausar Thompson may already be the team’s best defender and could be signed as a Day 1 starter. However, if you take Bogdanović out of that group, he lacks proven shooting ability. Taking Ivey out eliminates the threat of a diverse scorer.
But here too, defense is the top priority.
“I think we can defend the ball better than we showed,” Williams said Tuesday. “One of our rules is: If you can’t block two dribbles, you probably can’t play. That’s just how it is. You have to be able to be in a stick-pick wall, which for us means stick with your hand, pick a spot and wall up. If you’re a defensive player on defense, you’re just going to have a hard time playing because we have to play great defense. For me, the best offense is a defensive stop. The more stops we get, the more we can play freely.”
Moving forward, it seems like Isaiah Livers was primed for a rotation spot until he recently suffered a sprained ankle. Williams said the third-year forward had a “great summer” before the injury and was looking forward to getting him back.
“He’s a two-way guy, smart,” Williams said of Livers. “He can handle the ball a little better than I thought when I watched him tape before we started training camp. He can make a pocket pass, he knows how to play in .5 and he does a number of things well. He is smart. He talks about defense.
“It’s unfortunate that he got injured because he just had a great summer. He worked on his body. We can’t wait to bring him back because he will add value on both sides.”
I had originally used Livers as a backup power forward. It sounds like Williams has a similar mindset. Now I’m very excited to see what this rotation will look like at the start of the season. Could Williams ask Bogdanović to come off the bench and play substitute 4 until Livers returns to add Thompson to the starting group? Possibly, but it still feels unlikely. Maybe the Pistons stagger Stewart and Duren early, so Stewart plays the winner of the Wiseman-Bagley duel and then Bogdanović plays the 4 next to Duren while Thompson plays the 3 next to the starters. I’m just spitballing here, but they all seem to be legitimate results.
Then there is the possibility that Detroit will go smaller in the second unit. It sounds like Williams is interested in bringing in Joe Harris, who has long been one of the league’s best 3-point shooters. He said that on Wednesday. Without Livers, could the all-bench unit look like this: Monte Morris, Alec Burks, Harris, Thompson and Wiseman/Bagley? I think it’s more likely that Stewart drops out of the starting group early and joins the second unit to play the 4 and Thompson spends some time with the starters assuming he doesn’t start in the group. However, the liver injury certainly makes things a little more complicated.
The second unit will regulate itself. My biggest question over the next few weeks: Is the starting lineup as chalky as most people think? I always remember the justifiable obsession with improving the defense and the glowing reviews Thompson received from the coaches, front office and every player on the roster.
We’ll learn more over time, but the picture is becoming a little clearer every day.
(Photo by James Wiseman: Logan Riely/NBAE via Getty Images)