Detroit Pistons: 3 players entering a make-or-break season in 2018-19

The Detroit Pistons find themselves at a crossroads. Dwane Casey is going to spend this season learning who is a long-term piece and who isn’t.

The Detroit Pistons are in a transition to a new coach and new front office. Other than Zaza Pachulia, Glenn Robinson III and the two rookies, the roster is full of holdovers. Dwane Casey may decide early on or during the season that some don’t fit.

When looking ahead to next summer, the Pistons will still be over the cap and need to clear space. Some of their players could become trade fodder in a salary dump, or they could be used to bring in better fits.

As evidenced by the recent DeMar DeRozan–Kawhi Leonard swap, teams are still most concerned with winning. DeRozan has voiced his displeasure on Instagram, but management felt Leonard gave them a better chance to win. With Casey at the helm, he’ll be assessing the roster to try and repeat the success he had with the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors were loaded with shooters in Casey’s final season, and the Pistons aren’t exactly the most loaded team from the outside.

Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond will be safe moving forward, but just about anyone else can be fair game in a trade or allowed to walk in free agency. Some players have skated by for a few years on potential, but it has yet to pan out. As the Pistons look to reverse their long stretch of struggle, the future starts now. Here’s a look at three players entering make-or-break years in 2018-19.