Detroit Pistons: 5 takeaways from 2018 NBA Summer League

3. Bench scoring will not be great

The Pistons lack a truly elite scorer on the roster. That further extends to the bench, where scorers are even less prevalent. While there will be a couple shooters on the bench, there won’t be anyone that can create bunches of points for them.

Only Ellenson, Brown and Zack Lofton averaged over 10 points per game in Summer League but none did so efficiently. Lofton is the “sharpshooter” at 38.8 percent from the floor.

The Raptors had the fifth-ranked bench in points per game. The Pistons ranked 20th. After the loss of Anthony Tolliver, it’s quite possible that ranking is going to fall even more. This Summer League has further proved that the team’s scoring will come mostly from the starters. Outside of an aberration game against the New Orleans Pelicans, they have failed to score above 78 points in Vegas. Three of their games saw them finish at 70 or less.

Last season, Smith was the team’s leading bench scorer at 10.9 points per game. By comparison, the second-ranked Brooklyn Nets had three scorers averaging over 10.1 points per game. The Pistons bench won’t be asked to have a sixth man on the level of Lou Williams, who averaged 22.6 points per game. However, if the bench is able to step up above last season, it could easily help push this team’s playoff chances up.