Pistons projected lineup and rotations heading into 2023-24 season
Detroit Pistons starting power forward: Isaiah Stewart
The Pistons signed Isaiah Stewart to a four-year, $60 million extension to keep him with the franchise through the 2027-28 season. That investment will probably mean a starting job, at least to open the season. One of Troy Weaver’s first moves as Pistons GM was to select Isaiah Stewart 16th overall in the 2020 NBA Draft and every move since then has reaffirmed Detroit’s affinity for players like Stewart.
Detroit prioritizes true big men more than most teams in today’s NBA. There is a comical number of traditional centers on the roster. Stewart would play exclusively the five almost anywhere else, but not with the Pistons. Stewart is going to start and close a lot of games at power forward, especially with last year’s second lottery pick, Jalen Duren, coming along so quickly.
One key element of Stewart’s development — especially if he’s going to stick as a four — is his 3-point shot. Last season, he went from a career average of less than one attempt per game to 4.1 attempts per game. Stewart hit 32.7 percent of those attempts. Not great, but certainly not terrible and a definite sign of growth. If Stewart can become a legitimate stretch big, that greatly improves the long-term viability of him as a member of the starting five.
Stewart will earn the bulk of his credit as a defender and rebounder. He averaged 8.1 rebounds in 28.3 minutes last season. His intensity on the defensive end and competing for rebounds is seldom matched. Stewart doesn’t rack up a ton of steals or blocks, but he’s an absolute tank who can stonewall drives or keep bigs from establishing position in the post. The other side of the coin, however, is that Stewart is a 6-foot-8, 250-pound big who shot 44.2 percent from the field last season. Not great.
Primary backup power forward: Marvin Bagley III
The Pistons took on Marvin Bagley as a reclamation project after the former No. 2 pick struggled to carve out a role with the Kings. It has been pretty successful, to the point that Detroit signed him to a three-year, $37.5 million extension before last season. Detroit will have to get picky about which bigs to invest in eventually, but Bagley has certainly looked the part of a viable rotation piece.
The defense remains a point of concern, which is partially why Bagley gets pegged in the four spot. He doesn’t protect the rim much at all. Rebounding has always been Bagley’s strong suit, and he’s a fairly prolific (if at times inefficient) post scorer with a deep bag of old-school tricks he can rely on. The Pistons will continue to give him plenty of burn in the frontcourt.