Detroit Pistons: 3 breakout candidates in 2018-19

3. Henry Ellenson

Ellenson is the most intriguing dark horse of these breakout candidates. He has the potential to be this team’s stretch-4 of the future. Ellenson improved his 3-point shooting after struggling mightily his first season. He appears to be a knock-down shooter at the free throw line as he shot 86.2 percent, albeit a limited sample size of 25-for-29. Ellenson isn’t going to take over and make the All-Star game this season. However, he can be a legitimate threat off the bench.

The Pistons have strong defenders at the power forward position. Four of their top five in minutes played, including Ellenson, graded out as positives on the defensive end. However, if he’s going to take that next step, he needs to improve his defense. Although he graded out as the 44th-best power forward on that end of the floor, he has the size to be better. He has the ability to be this team’s Serge Ibaka where he can stretch the floor on offense, then protect the rim on defense.

Ellenson shot 33.3 percent from distance last season. This was a nearly five percent increase over his rookie season. He has the ability to continue developing this shooting. If he is able to continue his improvement with more volume, he’ll be an excellent bench threat. Casey was able to develop Jonas Valanciunas into a mild 3-point threat, and he can do the same with Ellenson.