Explaining Isaiah Stewart & Understanding The Pistons' Two-Big Lineups
March 21st 2024 | Bryce Hollins
Once solely known as an interior finishing, rebounding, and defending big, Isaiah Stewart has almost completely reinvented his game. Coming into the league as an undersized center who rebounded hard, defended, and blocked a few shots, some overzealous Pistons fans rushed to don Stew as the next great Pistons big.
While this may not be the case, that is very much okay.
Today, Isaiah Stewart’s 2020 NBA Draft profile looks quite a bit different than his current scouting report.
While expectations might’ve been set too high after his strong rookie season, it was clear Stew was a positive NBA contributor in some capacity. Being a legitimately positive defender as a rookie big is an impressive feat, and Stew was always a safe bet to improve.
Even though he hasn’t quite been able to replicate his rookie-year defensive production since then, his game has continued to evolve in other ways.
Going into his second season, the charm of Isaiah Stewart wore off to the majority of the fanbase. With Cade Cunningham now leading the charge, Stew’s struggles at the center position and overall weaknesses as a player were amplified.
Listed at only 6’ 8”, 250 pounds, and with an ability to leap that left much to be desired from the center position, Stew struggled mightily finishing around the rim and as the roll man. With a long launch time, limited standing vertical, and limited catching ability, his weaknesses often hindered the offense.
With a player like Cade Cunningham at the helm who is proficient in using ball screens, attracting defenders, and making live-dribble reads, having an adept pick-and-roll partner/lob threat is essential in fostering individual and team offensive success.
As @PickandRo mentions in his article, Jaden Ivey and What Spacing Truly Means:
“Vertical spacing usually comes from players that can be lob threats, where they can score over the top of the defense and therefore create gravity on the court vertically.”
This is something Stew struggled to provide.
With only a glimpse of a jump shot potentially worth developing for the future, Stew’s offensive role and production outlook seemed increasingly limited.
Mix in all of that with the slight defensive regression once he was handed more responsibility, it seemed Stew would likely be relegated more to an energy/defensive big off the bench. Although, regardless of the shortcomings, the organization remained determined he was part of the future.
Importance of Adaptation
And then…
“With the 13th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, The Detroit Pistons select Jalen Duren, center from The University of Memphis.”
With a younger, more athletic, and likely higher potential big man making his way into the building, Isaiah Stewart’s future outlook with the team began to come into question.
Once Duren got his feet under him, Isaiah Stewart would surely be pushed out of the starting lineup and to a backup position at best. Barring a major shift in playstyle, it seemed highly unlikely Stew would have a prominent starting role on this team much longer.
Though, despite the high draft selection and perhaps daunting potential of Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart only continued to improve.
After shooting only .8 3PA per game on 33% over his first two seasons as an NBA professional, Stew jumped up to over 4 3PA per game in just one off-season, all while maintaining roughly the same shooting percentage (32.7%).
While the percentage is nothing to swoon over, this major increase in volume without a drop in efficiency is impressive, even if it is still a decent amount below league average. At the very least, it shows a sign of improvement.
With Duren’s increasingly improved play off the bench, it was only a matter of time before he forced his way into the starting lineup. Along with the aforementioned improvements from Stew, this allowed the Pistons to experiment with different lineups.
With Saddiq Bey or Bojan Bogdanovic as the only other realistic options at the power-forward spot at the time, the Pistons greatly lacked size, athleticism, and defense in that position, all things Stew could help provide.
While the results may not have been immediately positive, moving Isaiah Stewart to a more perimeter-oriented role helped fill some of these voids the Pistons had, something he continues to fill to this day.
Continued Improvement in the Chaos
Coming into this season, the Detroit Pistons roster had quite a few questions needing to be answered (perhaps more than we initially imagined), and Isaiah Stewart’s shooting and overall development was one of them.
Despite an abundance of injuries to start the year, the Pistons started a lineup of Cade Cunningham, Killian Hayes, Ausar Thompson, Isaiah Stewart, and Jalen Duren.
This lineup featured 3 borderline non-shooters (Killian, Ausar, Duren), and a sub 33% career three-point shooter in Cade, leaving the best shooter of the group, at least percentage-wise, to be Isaiah Stewart.
This lineup was never built to succeed.
While I'm sure Pistons fans aren’t currently very accepting of moral victories, even with the 12-56 record, even with the historic 28-game losing streak, it would be hard to call Isaiah Stewart’s individual season anything but a success up to this point.
In 45 total games so far this season, Isaiah Stewart is averaging 11 / 6.6 / 1.6 on 48.7 - 38.3 - 75.3 shooting splits. Though none will blow you away, perhaps the most impressive and imperative statistic listed here is his three-point percentage.
Up just under 5 percentage points over last season, while maintaining similar volume from range is quite an impressive jump in just an offseason's time. Despite most being wide-open catch-and-shoot opportunities, this is a more than respectable number for a big man who was once considered solely an interior scorer.
Beyond shooting, his defense and driving continues to impress and improve over time. He has flashed some expanded dribble drive/playmaking game, though a very limited sample size, and to very mixed results. He even seems to have a better understanding of how to turn these drives into post-ups and attack mismatches in semi-transition.
Even with all of this improvement, there are still plenty of areas of growth in Stew’s game.
As mentioned earlier, Stewart is really only taking and making wide-open three-point attempts at the moment. His handle and decision-making in attacking closeouts are still quite poor overall, though some strides have been made in that regard as well. His finishing around the rim is still somewhat underwhelming based on pre-draft expectations.
Though, even with all his flaws, by almost all metrics, the Detroit Pistons are currently a better basketball team when Isaiah Stewart is on the court.
Understanding the Two-Big Lineups
Troy Weaver has never been secretive about his affinity for big men.
This quote from the 2020 NBA Media Day shows exactly that. While Weaver hasn’t been super consistent in his approach to building a basketball team, he has always wanted to play BIG.
With teams like the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, and Cleveland Cavaliers often dominating the top of the conference, this logic makes a lot of sense.
As the NBA continues to move to a more perimeter-oriented game, strong interior play will forever be vital to winning basketball. The ability to steal/finish possessions on the glass and/or stop teams from scoring at the rim is always a recipe for success.
With the lines between wings and power forwards continuing to be blurred across the league, size at the four spot is becoming more of a luxury, than a necessity as in the past.
NBA defenses are becoming more complex and adaptable than ever. Schemes and defensive properties proceed to advance as rules and play style change. Though, depending on personnel, attacking mismatches will always be an effective offense.
While roster construction has to fit the idea, two big lineups can be greatly effective, both offensively and defensively, with proper lineup structure and game planning.
The double-big lineup discussion, and frankly the entire conversation around Isaiah Stewart is quite divisive. However, in my opinion, a lot of the questions and concerns with Stewart and the double-big lineups can be answered with adequate coaching and roster construction.
It can be extremely difficult to evaluate players when in such poor contexts, and I believe that is why a lot of the discussion surrounding Stewart and two-big lineups has become so negative among the Pistons fanbase.
Troy Weaver’s adamant affair for “reclamation projects”, his complete disregard of player personnel, the fit with Monty William's incomprehensible lineups, and in-game decision-making have routinely failed to put players in positions to succeed.
With the continued acquisitions of proven floor spacers, like at this year's trade deadline, two big lineups will become increasingly effective, even if it is just situationally. The more shooting they acquire on the wings, the better.
Not even the biggest Isaiah Stewart supporters would necessarily consider him as the cemented long-term answer at the power forward position. Many understand his weaknesses and limitations as a player, currently and in the future. Though, as the roster currently stands, he is probably the best available option.
Although the current results aren’t overwhelmingly positive, as the Pistons continue to build for the future, the experience will likely prove worthwhile.
Even without the ideal modern power forward currently on the roster, Isaiah Stewart’s positional versatility will only benefit the Pistons down the line.
Perhaps his consistent improvement and adaptability will help him evolve into that ideal power forward one day for the Pistons.