Detroit Pistons: 3 takeaways from 2018-19 season opener

1. We still don’t know the real rotation

Going into training camp and the preseason, the Pistons’ two most interesting position battles were those for the starting shooting guard and starting small forward jobs.

Thanks to Reggie Bullock coming down with an illness and Stanley Johnson suffering a toe injury, the Pistons were missing not just two of their most important players — Bullock is the team’s best 3-point shooter, Johnson its best perimeter defender — but also missing two of the guys competing for those wing positions.

Casey went with a three-guard starting lineup against a Brooklyn team whose biggest strength may be its backcourt depth. Jackson started at point guard, flanked by Luke Kennard and rookie Bruce Brown Jr.

Backup guard Langston Galloway, who appeared to be on his way out of the rotation after a disappointing 2017-18 campaign, played 33 minutes off the bench on Wednesday, and Smith logged 29 minutes.

Kennard and Brown each played 19 minutes, while Glenn Robinson III, expected to challenge for a starting job, played 20 minutes off the bench.

We’ll have to wait for Bullock and Johnson to return to the lineup before we get a clearer picture of how Casey plans to utilize his talent.