Where does Daniss Jenkins fit on a fully healthy Detroit Pistons roster?
Omari and Bryce break down how the Pistons may adjust their roster with Daniss Jenkins in mind once key starters return from injuries.
The Detroit Pistons have been the toast of the NBA the past week and it’s easy to see why.
They are leading or a headline on nearly every NBA podcast or show, off to their best start in 20 years with an Eastern-Conference best 13-2 record and 11-game win streak − despite a lengthy nightly injury report. It’s the Pistons’ best 15-game opening since 2005-06, when they started 15-2 on the way to a franchise-best 64-18 under coach Flip Saunders.
But the Pistons have some clear holes on the roster, notably a lack of shooting — outside of Duncan Robinson — and shotmaking beyond Cade Cunningham. This will become a glaring issue in a seven-game playoff series, when preparation, scouting and adjustments become focused on granular details. Playing teams that are missing half their rotations, as is now commonplace, sadly, in the regular season, but there will no resting or players out for “injury management” in the playoffs.
Still, it’s never too early to start looking ahead at what the Pistons’ needs are, and the NBA’s Feb. 5 trade deadline is less than 2½ months away.
How should the Pistons read their historic start?
“No one is frightening you right now in the East,” analyst Zach Lowe said on his Zach Lowe Show recorded Wednesday, Nov. 19, mentioning the Cleveland Cavaliers (10-6) and New York Knicks (9-5) as good but not great so far.
Does that make this season the time for the Pistons to make a big swing in a trade?
Or do they wait to see what the team looks like when Jaden Ivey comes back, assuming he gets healthy enough to play soon — he’s currently rehabbing with the Pistons G League team, the Motor City Cruise — and how the rest of the competition shapes up?
These are questions that must be answered by second-year president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon and his staff.
Lauri Markkanen trade to Pistons would be perfect fit
Get ready to hear Markkanen’s name weekly in NBA trade rumors for the third straight season leading into the deadline. We already heard speculation of him and the Pistons less than two weeks ago.
“Markkanen is just a perfect player for them. Perfect,” Lowe said Wednesday.
Markkanen, a 2023 All-Star, is in his fourth season in Utah and playing the most minutes of his career and taking the most shots of his career to produce his best season. Markkanen, a 28-year-old power forward from Finland, is averaging 30.6 points, fifth in the NBA, on 48.5% shooting and 38.5% from 3, making 3.7 of his 9.6 attempts per game.
The Pistons are 12th in offensive rating and second in defense, behind only Oklahoma City entering play Friday. But they rank near the bottom of the league in key 3-point shooting categories a year after ranking a tick below average in them.
28th makes per game with 11.1 compared to 12.8 last season.28th in attempts per game with 32.1 compared to 35.4 last season.20th in percentage at 34.5% compared to 36.2% last season.
But should the Pistons play out the season and make a smaller move to add shooting or try to pry Markkanen from Utah despite a hefty asking price?
“I would probably err on the side of let’s see what this is fully,” Lowe’s podcast guest, Steve Jones Jr., a former NBA staffer, said. “Let’s see if we’re missing this specific piece. If we need to go big or maybe it’s make a small move and try and add some shooting and get the balance back that you had closer to last year. But I don’t know if you have to take the big swing yet. You have enough success, you have an identity, you have all the guys you have bought in. … I would say let’s ride this until the wheels fall off and let’s figure out in the playoffs if we are exposed or need player X.”
“I want to see (Ivey) first before I do anything,” said Lowe, whose concern is lack of shooting in the playoffs.
Ivey hit 47% on catch-and-shoot 3s last season in 30 games, a key ingredient to complementing Cunningham.
Lowe said swapping Markkanen into the Tobias Harris minutes would be a big upgrade, while acknowledging how “rock solid” Harris has been both on and off the court since signing a two-year deal in 2024.
Ivey theoretically would be the prize for the Jazz in this trade, but it might not even make sense for Utah considering that third-year point guard Keyonte George has played well (averaging 23 points and 7.1 assists in 14 games) and is nearly two years younger than Ivey, who turns 24 in February and can become a restricted free agent after this season. A deal would also include first-round picks — the Pistons have all of their own — and another young player, such as second-year forward Ron Holland, to make the salary matching work.
Markkanen is signed for three more seasons beyond this one, becoming a free agent in 2029, and makes $46.4 million this season, 30% of the cap. Utah is still rebuilding at 5-9, 10th in the West.
Lowe shouted out the emergence of Daniss Jenkins, allowing the Pistons to “feel a little more comfortable letting Ivey go.” But as he waits for the next two months to play out, Lowe explained why his current view is to “strike while the iron is hot if that’s the upgrade that may make us a real threat to make the Finals.”
“I’m saying Markkanen specifically,” Lowe said. “I’m not just saying take a swing for anybody and everybody. … He’s that ideal for how they play and what they need.”
The Pistons, as currently constructed, seem like no match for defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, which is 15-1 without the team’s second-best player, Jalen Williams.
And remember, the goal is to actually win the Finals, not just get there.
There seems to be plenty of time for the Pistons to figure it out, and yet, this might be their best chance with this core in a weakened East and with an inexpensive roster. Stay tuned.
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