The 2020-21 NBA season is a few weeks away and training camp is underway. The Detroit Pistons had an, interesting offseason to say the least. The good thing was Detroit had a very solid draft, bringing in Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart and Saddiq Bey. The thing that perplexed many was when the Pistons failed to re-sign Christian Wood and instead brought in multiple replacement level players in odd contracts. Among those players were Mason Plumlee and Jerami Grant. Both will contribute this season, but likely won’t help Detroit make a major improvement right now. Here we’re going to take a look at the Pistons’ offseason, plus look ahead to the 2020-21 season.
2020 offseason
Key additions
Jerami Grant, PF (free agency)
Mason Plumlee, PF/C (free agency)
Josh Jackson, F (free agency)
Killian Hayes, G (draft)
Isaiah Stewart, C (draft)
Saddiq Bey, F (draft)
Jahlil Okafor, C (free agency)
Key losses
Christian Wood, PF (free agency)
Bruce Brown, G (trade)
Luke Kennard, G (trade)
2020-21 odds
Title odds: +40000
Win percentage: O/U 32.5
Killian Hayes ROTY odds: +800
2020-21 roster
Depth Chart
PG: Derrick Rose, Killian Hayes, Delon Wright
SG: Delon Wright, Svi Mykhailiuk, Wayne Ellington
SF: Jerami Grant, Sekou Doumbouya, Saddiq Bey
PF: Blake Griffin, Jerami Grant, Sekou Doumbouya
C: Mason Plumlee, Isaiah Stewart, Jahlil Okafor
Roster battles
Starting G: Killian Hayes vs. Delon Wright vs. Svi Mykhailiuk
Fantasy basketball
Best Sleeper
Sekou Doumbouya — Dr. Doum was a bit overshadowed by the emergence of Wood last season. Doumbouya had a stretch in January in which he averaged 9.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in 26.6 minutes per game. As a rookie, that’s impressive. The Pistons have forwards in front of Dr. Doum, but it’s in their best interest to get him minutes as a sophomore. In deeper formats and keeper/dynasty leagues, I like Doumbouya as a bench option/stash pick.
Likely Bust
Derrick Rose — The Pistons don’t have many upside plays and I’m not that low on Rose. He’s one-dimensional though, more of a score-first guard. I could see the Pistons and Dwane Casey wanting to get Hayes work as a rookie and Delon Wright is a serviceable point guard. There’s a chance Rose will get traded before the deadline, so if that’s the case, I could see Detroit protecting its asset by holding him back a tad. Rose isn’t a guy I’d go out of my way to draft, is what I’m getting at.