Pistons Rotation Battles: Starting Frontcourt and Backup Guards

The Detroit Pistons are one of the league’s young rebuilding squads with enormous potential. Their recent acquisitions of numerous young pieces—along with the hiring of Monty Williams—suggest that we’ll be seeing the Pistons on the come-up in a few years time.

However, with a great amount of young talent also comes major decisions. Who gets the starting nod? Who needs more minutes and what must be done to make that happen? The Pistons need those questions answered sooner than later, but recent reporting suggests they’ve figured some of them out.

Pistons Rotation Battles: Starting Frontcourt and Backup Guards

Starting Front Court Confirmed?

Pistons.com web editor Keith Langlois recently published a mailbag column, and questions about the rotation (among other matters) were the talk of the town. Detroit has four serviceable bigs on the roster: Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart, Marvin Bagley III and James Wiseman. Now, it appears Stewart and Duren will be the starting power forward and center, respectively.

Coming off of his third season, Stewart started 47 of the 50 games he played. He averaged 11.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game in the lead group. He shot 44% from the field, 33% from three and 73% from the free-throw line. Duren, on the other hand, started 31 of the 67 games he played. In that span, he averaged 10.5 points, 10.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 67% from the field.

Stewart and Duren were part of the Pistons’ most common lineup, joining Killian Hayes, Jaden Ivey, and Bojan Bogdanovic. The group played a total of 249 minutes together across 19 games. They finished with an offensive rating of 108 and a defensive rating of 124.2. The numbers may not look appealing at first glance, but it’s what they had to work with following Cade Cunningham’s season-ending surgery.

According to Langlois, Duren’s promotion to starter likely stems from his solid Summer League showing plus his standout play with Team USA’s Select team. Stewart, meanwhile, will continue his starting role from last season, offering added physicality and floor-spacing up front.

What About Bagley and Wiseman?

Both acquired via trades over the past couple of seasons, Bagley III and James Wiseman have had respectable showings with Motor City so far.

In Bagley’s second year with the team (and fifth in the NBA), he played 42 games (25 starts) and averaged 12 points, 6.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game on 53/28/75 splits. Bagley offered stability throughout last year, jumping between a starter and backup and playing solid throughout.

Wiseman, who was traded to Detroit last year from the Golden State Warriors, flourished in his new environment. The 22-year-old played 24 games (22 starts) and averaged 12.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game. He also shot 53% from the field and 71% from the free-throw line.

Despite their demotions, Langlois warns that Williams will probably not play a two-big bench lineup.

“And if that’s the case, then it’s either Wiseman or Bagley as the big man with the bench unit and the runner-up in that competition is out of the rotation,” Langlois wrote.

Guards: Pressure on Killian Hayes, Plus Questions on Newcomers

The Latest on Hayes

The Pistons have equally big questions surrounding some of their guards, namely Killian Hayes. The 22-year-old, who is on an expiring contract after his $7 million Team Option, has struggled throughout his career. However, he showed some signs of promise last season, averaging 10.3 points and 6.2 assists per game on 37/28/82 splits. Hayes’s success came while Cunningham was sidelined, as he played 76 games and started 56 of them. With a return to the bench on the horizon and a new contract at stake, the pressure is on for Hayes to perform, both in training camp and the regular season.

Langlois touched on Hayes and his “negligible trade value” in his column, responding to a question about the young guard:

“I don’t know where the opportunity to flourish will come when the Pistons have Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Alec Burks and Monte Morris plus rookie Marcus Sasser in the backcourt, but crowded depth charts always seem to resolve themselves.”

He added that there’s a chance Hayes could be used in a trade to balance salaries. Still, Langlois expects Hayes to come in fighting for a rotation spot.

Detroit’s Other Guards: Burks, Morris, Sasser

Speaking of the other Pistons guards—-aside from Cunningham and Ivey—where do they stand in all of this?

Alec Burks looks to continue his role as the steady veteran off the bench for Detroit. Coming over from the New York Knicks in an offseason trade, Burks played 51 games and averaged 12.8 points on nearly 44% shooting from the field and 41% from three. As one of a few veterans on the roster, his presence on and off the court will still be vital towards Detroit’s success.

Newcomer Monte Morris, who was traded by the Washington Wizards for a 2027 second-round pick, appears to be the favorite as the backup facilitator. However, Hayes’s aforementioned motivations could complicate things to a degree. Last season with the Wizards, Morris played 62 games and started 61 of them. He averaged 10.3 points and 5.3 assists per game on 48/38/83 splits. Switching to a backup role should be an easy change for Morris, who played behind Jamal Murray on the Denver Nuggets early on in his career. Duking it out with Hayes, though, is a bit of a different story. It’ll be one key rotation battle to watch for Detroit.

Finally, the last guard who could earn spot rotation minutes is rookie Marcus Sasser. Drafted 25th overall from the University of Houston, Sasser is a gifted shooter and promising playmaker, and his versatility has allowed him to excel at either guard spot. It’s more likely that Sasser will gain more reps with the Pistons’ G League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise. However, he has several NBA-ready tools that make him ready to play with Detroit if the opportunity presents itself.

The Last Word on the Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons have some work to do before next season begins, though they’re all good problems to have. The rotational battles of Marvin Bagley III vs. James Wiseman and Monte Morris vs. Killian Hayes are ones for Pistons fans to consider the most, as the team eyes some more fruitful years of development before taking larger steps towards contention.