Their Offense Will Be More Modernized

The Pistons have been a bad offensive team under Stan Van Gundy. Their 104.9 offensive rating last season was their highest mark under Stan Van Gundy, and it was only 19th in the league. They were also only 17th in the league last season with 28.6 three-point attempts per game last season. The team was tied for 2nd in the league with a 37.8 percentage from 3 point range. That means that the team has guys who can shoot, they just need a coach that will design an offense where they will be shooting more.

Another issue with the Pistons offense under Stan Van Gundy is the slow pace that they played at. They were 21st in the league last season in pace and haven’t been in the top 20 in pace since Stan Van Gundy took over as coach. The NBA is trending more and more towards pace and space, and being a bottom ten team every single season in pace is not going to get it done for a team with playoff aspirations. Since he was introduced as coach, Dwane Casey has talked about wanting to get out and run. I expect him to get the Pistons near the top 10 in pace like he did with the Raptors last season, who was ranked 13th.

One of the biggest reasons for the Raptors improvement last season was Dwane Casey’s willingness to modify the offense to emphasize more ball movement and creating open 3s.  It is why they won 59 games and why he won Coach of the Year. Obviously, the Pistons have a different roster construction than the Toronto Raptors.  The Raptors were a guard-heavy team while the Pistons are a big-heavy team.  It should still be possible to do similar things with Blake Griffin as the main hub and Reggie Jackson, Reggie Bullock, Luke Kennard, and Glenn Robinson III providing the spacing.  It will probably be a bit unconventional, but there is a reason why the Pistons hired the reigning Coach of the Year.

If Dwane Casey can solve the puzzle, the Pistons will make the playoffs.

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