Detroit Pistons: 3-point shooters to target in a trade

The Detroit Pistons need at least one more shooter on the roster. Here are some long range snipers that could be available via trade.

After Dwane Casey took over the head coaching reins of the Detroit Pistons this offseason, a lot of talk among fans and media following the team centered around impending changes to the offense.

One thing Casey made clear soon after being hired is that the Pistons would be taking more 3-pointers. A lot more 3-pointers.

Casey’s system emphasizing the 3 has been successful. He used it to lead the Toronto Raptors to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2016 and the No. 1 playoff seed in the East last season, when he won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award. (The Raptors fired Casey after a third straight embarrassing postseason exit at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers.)

It’s one thing to throw up a lot of 3s, though. The key is getting them to go into the basket.

Through 12 games this season, the Pistons (6-6) are sixth in the NBA in 3-point attempts (35.0 per game) and 14th in 3-point makes (11.0 per game), but they rank an alarming 29th out of 30 teams in 3-point accuracy (31.4 percent).

The team’s two most prolific 3-point shooters — power forward Blake Griffin and point guard Reggie Jackson — are not necessarily known for their acumen in that area. Reggie Bullock, who finished second in the league in 3-point accuracy last season (44.5 percent), is down almost 10 whole percentage points this season (35.6 percent). Stanley Johnson has the fourth-most attempts on the team, but he’s made only 29.4 percent of those attempts.

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All-Star center Andre Drummond was the talk of Pistons Twitter this summer because he was reportedly working on adding a 3-point shot to his repertoire, but he’s shot just 2-of-11 beyond the arc since the games started to count.

It is still early and the sample size is small, but unless some slumping Pistons get hot — or some previously unknown 3-point gunners reveals himself — it looks like Detroit simply doesn’t have the shooting to be consistently successful in Casey’s preferred system.

Sooner than later, this front office should be scouring the free-agent pool and initiating trade talks to acquire someone who can make the Pistons more of a threat beyond the arc.

Here are five players who would make sense for Detroit in a trade scenario.