Detroit's Offseason Makeover Has One Unfinished Corner

The Pistons spent the summer reshaping their roster around the thing that cost them in close games last season — perimeter defense, proven spacing, frontcourt depth. Stewart went to Memphis. LeVert went to Milwaukee. In return, Detroit got Gary Harris and Taurean Prince, added Isaiah Joe as another shooting option, locked up Kevin Huerter on a three-year deal, and signed John Collins to anchor the power forward spot alongside Jalen Duren. For a team that finished 60-22 and still couldn't win close games at a rate that matched its overall quality, that's a coherent response.

The one thing the offseason didn't fix: what happens when Duren sits. He logged 28-plus minutes a night last season and was the team's most efficient scorer, finishing at 64.8% from the field. That kind of workload is sustainable until it isn't, and right now there's no credible backup center behind him on this roster. Collins can slide to the five in a pinch — that's the obvious short-term answer — but asking a power forward to cover center minutes in a playoff series is a different ask than doing it in November.

My read is that the front office knows this. The question is whether they address it before camp opens or wait to see how Collins fits and whether the position becomes a genuine problem. The trade deadline is always an option, but depth at center tends to get expensive when a contender is shopping for it in February. Detroit is better built than it was 90 days ago. That one gap is still there.