The Pistons Built a Better Team. They Still Haven't Built a Complete One.
Three pieces in, and the answer hasn't changed. I've been tracking this center depth question since July, and every offseason move Detroit has made—the Collins signing, the Harris and Prince acquisition, the Huerter re-up—has been the right call for the right reason. None of it touches the problem that will matter most when a playoff series goes to six games and Jalen Duren picks up his fourth foul in the third quarter.
The depth chart at center is not thin. It is essentially nonexistent. Duren produced at the level a legitimate starting center should—17.7 points and 9.9 rebounds per game on 64.8% shooting, one of the more efficient offensive seasons any big man in the league put together this year. The player behind him on the depth chart, Isaac Jones, produced nothing measurable in a meaningful sample. That is not a backup situation. That is a single point of failure dressed up as a rotation.
What makes this particularly uncomfortable heading into training camp is the context around it. Detroit went 60-22 last season and still lost close games at a rate that alarmed the front office enough to trigger a full roster overhaul. The Pistons were 14-10 in games decided by five points or fewer—a 58% win rate against a 73% overall winning percentage. That gap is what drove the summer spending. Collins was brought in to help in those moments. Harris and Prince were acquired to defend in them. Huerter was retained to space the floor during them. All of that is sound construction. But none of it addresses what happens when Duren can't play 40 minutes a night for four straight games in May.
The Collins signing is worth examining here, because the front office clearly believes it closes part of this gap. Collins can play stretch-four and credibly defend the paint in short bursts, which gives head coach J.B. Bickerstaff some positional flexibility when Duren needs rest. That's not nothing. But a power forward playing center minutes in a playoff series against a legitimate frontcourt is a workaround, not a solution. The Eastern Conference, by most projections, is getting more competitive next season—Philadelphia with LeBron James changes the calculus considerably. Detroit will need its best basketball for longer stretches, and "John Collins plays some center" is a plan that works in November, not in a Game 5 where the opponent is hunting Duren's foul trouble.
My read is that the front office made a calculated bet: the perimeter and frontcourt upgrades improve the close-game execution enough that Duren's minutes become more manageable, and the backup center question gets revisited at the trade deadline if the problem becomes acute. That's a defensible position in August. It becomes harder to defend in March when the playoff bracket is set and the options narrow. Detroit went from 14-68 two years ago to 60-22 last season—this organization has earned some faith in its process. But the one question I keep asking, and keep not finding a satisfying answer to, is this: what is the plan for the 12 minutes a night Duren cannot play? Until that answer exists, the Pistons are a very good team with a very specific vulnerability that good playoff opponents will find.