3 Detroit Pistons who definitely won't be back next season

1. James Wiseman

James Wiseman's career has been filled with ups and downs, even in his time with Detroit. He'll show flashes of being capable of being a good NBA backup, or even a starting center. He'll have a four-game stretch where he averages 14 points and 7.3 rebounds on 78.8 percent from the field. He'll score 18 points and grab nine rebounds on 8-of-12 shooting at Los Angeles against the Lakers. In the last 23 games of last season (22 starts), he averaged 12.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and one block on 53 percent from the field. But, he'll have more stretches where he doesn't rebound, defend or score consistently. What do you do with that?

The Pistons created a conundrum at the center spot by signing and trading for the position to the point they had a rotation's worth of solid ones. They've solved most of that already, and made a big move by trading Marvin Bagley III to the Washington Wizards. They have already extended Stewart to a long-term contract, and will likely do the same with Duren. So, they will need to make a decision on Wiseman after not extending him before the season started and him being a restricted free agent this summer.

Part of his future on the team depends on how he closes out the season, but another part of it depends on the viability of a lineup with Stewart and Duren in at the same time. While Stewart's shooting has improved dramatically — he went from shooting 32.7 percent from 3 and 34.7 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s in 2022-23 to 38.1 percent and 37.2 percent on catch-and-shoot looks this season — that takes away from other strengths he has in his game, like screening, rolling, establishing position and rebounding. If the front office decides that his focusing on playing in the perimeter is better, Wiseman will be prioritized, depending on the prize, as the third big. But, if they do the smart thing of making Duren their starter and Stewart the backup who can also play minutes with Duren, Wiseman's presence might not be necessary.

It's ironic that they're searching for an ideal forward next to Duren and there's a possibility they end up giving Wiseman a bag, when they had an ideal forward that fit with their core and who's asking price wouldn't have been out of proportion to what Wiseman would be getting in his best case scenario in Saddiq Bey. That's another example of recent mismanagement by the Pistons, and hopefully they don't add more to that list this summer.