Detroit Pistons: How Does their Young Core Stack Up?

The Detroit Pistons have been bereft of an inspiring youth movement for a long time now. Thanks to a historically poor draft record, there just haven’t been many talented young players who have suited up in the blue, red and white over the years.

Without draft success, the Pistons have found themselves being the team that pays players after they figure things out, or at least in theory that’s been the case since paying up for players hasn’t really worked out all that well in recent years either.

As things stand now, this roster has its best young core in God knows how long, considering the fact that when the team has actually been good in the past it’s been entirely on the strength of experienced and proven veterans. However, does being the Detroit Pistons’ best young core actually translate to being a good young core, or is it just good for the Pistons given their relative recent struggles to accumulate youthful talent?

We’ll take a look.

Who do we not include in the young core?

For the purposes of this exercise, we’ll stick to players 24 years of age and younger. We’ll also focus our attention on players who can expect to be significant contributors next season if they return.

This means that Louis King, Jordan Bone, Donta Hall and Khyri Thomas can be discounted. If they weren’t able to make waves in the rotation this season with all the injuries suffered by this Pistons team, there isn’t much reason to hold out a lot of hope for the future. At least for the purposes of this exercise.

Who makes the cut for the Detroit Pistons?

This criteria narrows things down quite a bit. We’re left with Sekou Doumbouya, Thon Maker, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, Bruce Brown, Luke Kennard and Christian Wood. Each one of these players played at least 754 minutes (Doumbouya’s total).

With the exception of Luke Kennard, who was forced out of action by injury, and Bruce Brown, each of these players were forced into increased roles this season as a result of injuries on the Pistons roster.

Young Pistons who have made the most of their opportunities

As it happens, in some cases at least, they’ve thrived. Doumbouya’s season has had some real highs and lows, but standing toe-to-toe with Draymond Green, LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard in a three-game stretch in January showed promise at the very least.

Christian Wood’s surge from barely making the roster in the preseason to being the final name announced in the starting lineup the last time the Pistons played at home is the stuff of legend already. He’s made the most of opportunities presented to him thanks to Blake Griffin’s injury, the Andre Drummond trade and Thon Maker’s ineffectiveness.

Luke Kennard seemed like he was just coming into his own when he went down with knee tendinitis right before Christmas, but when the NBA season was suspended in mid-March there was still no clarity on his potential return to action.

Bruce Brown was reliable as ever on defense and took steps forward offensively, both from a shooting and playmaking perspective. Mykhailuik has been the best shooter on the roster, and even Maker has shown a bit from a defense and energy perspective.

Are they GOOD, or just good for the Detroit Pistons?

From a win shares per 48 minutes perspective, there are several positive players among this young group. Maker checks in at .096, Mykhailiuk .060, Kennard at .100, Brown .062 and Christian Wood with a team leading .184.

While advanced numbers don’t tell you that much about a young player’s future trajectory, these number do tell you some of the story considering how they fit with the eye test and the way the organization appears to value these players.

In order for this young core to take a leap forward and actually be GOOD, and not just good compared to the usual dregs of young players the Pistons have rolled out in recent years, Kennard and Wood will need to carry the day.

We’re entering an era where, depending on Blake Griffin’s status, Kennard and Wood may need to be the unquestioned best players on the roster. They haven’t necessarily shown that they’re prepared to fill that role on a good team yet, so the pressure is about to be applied.

While some teams have young cores that can be brought along over time and can be seen as an embarrassment of riches, for the Pistons, their youth may need to mature faster than most if they want to compete on the timeline they’re hoping for.