The regular season is finally here and as opening night drives by for the Detroit Pistons, we here at Pistons Fleet decided to take a couple of steps back and look at the ones that shined through in the preseason games. As the Pistons enter the season undermanned with both their leading vets, Monte Morris and Bojan Bogdanovic, out for the early part of the season perhaps there is a diamond in the rough waiting to step up for this team and help give this team the push it needs early on in the season. This is where we come in, showcasing the select few who caught our eyes in the four preseason games and detailing how we could see them making an impact this year.

Roshan - Marvin Bagley

The running joke about the Pistons is that they have a plethora of bigs and that Troy Weaver has a more-than-normal affinity for these bigs. While that may or may not be true, one thing is for certain and that is the notion that this team desperately needs good big-man play from the bench when Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren are the starters. This leaves James Wiseman and Marvin Bagley duking it out for the backup big spot because I believe Coach Monty has no intention of playing a double big lineup of those two off the bench. While Wiseman looks like he will need more repetitions to consistently give you production on both sides of the court, Bagley has accepted the challenge and excelled in the preseason.

What stood out to me apart from the obvious offensive value Bagley brings as a roller and low post-scoring threat, is his defense looks like it could be something the Pistons could work with off the bench. This is not something I would have said even a couple of months ago before Monty Williams was hired. Now Bagley hasn’t aggressively improved with his defensive technique at all but he’s been far more effective at leveraging his tools. 

How has he done this? Throughout the preseason, Bagley let up 0.74 points per possession when he guarded the possession per Synergy Sports. Diving into the film, this seems more like shooting variance working in Bagley’s favor but what really allowed Bagley to be better defensively even with his slower closeouts is that his off-ball awareness has looked a lot better, allowing him to position himself better and disrupt the opposing offense with more ease by having to cover far less ground because of that. This in addition to the lack of opportunities for opposing offenses to attack him off-ball with backdoor cuts or attack him in a perceived mismatch out in space gives the Pistons some interesting switchability between their bench lineups defensively. If this trend continues into the regular season and Bagley continues to make improvements to his technique, especially as the low man, expect him to lock up that backup big role in the rotation.

Bryce - Joe Harris

Averaging only a measly 6.7-1-1 in just over 14 minutes a game during his three preseason games, Joe Harris is a player that stood out to me and is someone I am looking forward to watching contribute during the regular season.

Joe Harris is a certified SHOOTER. He always has been, and probably always will be. On a mere 3 three-point attempts per game over the small three-game sample, Harris shot 67% from behind the long line. While this shouldn’t be shocking to anyone, Pistons fans should be excited to have one of the best pure shooters in the league available off the bench.

While Joe Harris may not be known for it, one thing that surprised me in just his few minutes this preseason was his defense. Now, he wasn’t out there suffocating players in isolation or creating a bunch of live ball turnovers, but he did show a certain level of maturity and discipline defending off the ball that only comes with experience. Something that is quite rare on this current Pistons roster.

With the Pistons rotation still largely in question, I am excited to see where Joe Harris fits and how Head Coach Monty Williams utilizes him this season.

Rohan - Killian Hayes

With some of the prominent 2020 draftees (Hayes’ class) garnering contract extensions throughout the summer and leading into the extension deadline, all eyes will be on Hayes as he heads into next offseason as a restricted free agent. This essentially implies that Hayes’ season will be an audition to see (1) if he will be earning a second contract or (2) if said extension will be with the Pistons. While Pistons fans worldwide are unsure about whether he starts or not, the point stands that Hayes will have to see an uptick in scoring efficiency in order to stay on an NBA floor. While his FG% has hovered under 40% throughout his career and his 3P% has remained mostly steady at 26-28%, Hayes increased his scoring volume to around 10 points per game in the 2022-23 season. Across three preseason games, Hayes put up totals of 37 points and 12 assists across 68 minutes of play - doing so on 14/25 from the field. He scored efficiently while maintaining a real sense of decisiveness with his scoring throughout the preseason. As has been the case more often than not, decent defense and a sense of floor generalship have kept Hayes on the floor (both of these skills are rather useful for a bench guard.) 

With regards to Hayes’ potential playing time for the coming year, it is worth noting the Pistons have more potential for a log jam this coming year at the guard position with the return of Cade Cunningham and the additions of Monte Morris and Marcus Sasser. Furthermore, players such as Alec Burks and Joe Harris remain feasible options to slot as ‘Shooting Guards’ when needed - though both could be in trade talks over the season’s course. In a contract year and with a new coaching regime, I am excited to see if Hayes can finally figure out his comfort as a scorer in order to fit in various lineups and complement his usual strengths. 

Tyler - Stanley Umude

It's hard to talk about preseason standouts without mentioning the player who probably had the most to play for in these games: Stanley Umude. The Pistons announced this past Monday that the 6’ 6”, former Arkansas standout, had been converted from the Exhibit 10 contract he signed on August 7th to a two-way contract, becoming their third two-way alongside Jared Rhoden and Malcolm Cazalon. Umude should be no stranger to Pistons fans as he was a part of their G league affiliate last year as well as part of their summer league team during the last two offseasons. The flashes that he showed this preseason were much more impressive and the Pistons showed that they agreed by putting him on this two-way.

The thing that really stood out to me was his potential to be another reliable shooter for the Pistons bench. Obviously, the sample size isn’t that large with there only being four games played but shooting 43.8% on four attempts a game including a two-game stretch where he shot 60% on five attempts is nothing to shake your head at. This is backed up further by the fact that he shot 38.5% of his threes with the Motor City Cruise last year on 6.4 attempts a game. On top of that, he showed a willingness to attack the basket and search for contact in hopes of getting to the line. With a respectable 2.5 attempts a game, trailing only behind the two bigs in Duren and Bagley and star rookie Ausar Thompson, it’s another part of his offense to bet on. Knowing that he can and will attack the lane if given a chance off of a missed rotation or a sloppy closeout is just one more thing for a defender to have to think about while being out on the floor. 

Umude getting his two-way contract may not mean much for the Pistons this year in terms of the big picture, but that doesn't make his preseason any less impressive especially knowing the work he's put in to deserve it in the G league for the Cruise last year. 

What we here at the Fleet can promise is that although the void created by injuries is large, there is plenty of talent on this roster that can take a step forward with the added responsibility, to help support and facilitate the growth of the Pistons' main core of Cunningham, Ivey, Duren, and Thompson. Now we open up the conversation to you. Let us know if you agree with us, whether you see the same players potentially taking a step or perhaps you see someone else, it’s an open space to speak either under our Twitter posts or in our post-game spaces. We look forward to seeing you throughout this upcoming season!