Can new additions provide shooting Detroit Pistons need in 2019-20?

Best-case scenario

Any best-scenario outcome is going to rely largely on health.

Last season, the Pistons were fortunate with the starting trio of Reggie Jackson playing all 82 games, Andre Drummond 79 games and Blake Griffin 75 games. Furthermore, reserve guards Langston Galloway and Bruce Brown made 80 and 74 appearances respectively.

However, it was a different story for their cast of new arrivals. Forward Markieff Morris took to the court 58 times, guard Tim Frazier played 59 games and Derrick Rose just 51, while Joe Johnson had a complete sabbatical and was out of the league last season.

In addition to health, their aforementioned 3-point shooting just has to improve. With shooting guard Luke Kennard entering his third season with a career 40.4 percent shooting clip from three, the Pistons will be banking that an increase in his role will enable the former Duke star to flourish into one of the more lethal shooters in the league.

With the Pistons posting a 7-2 record last season when he nailed at least four triples, getting Kennard a more featured role would certainly make a lot of sense.

Aside from these factors, another supreme season from Blake Griffin, a return to the All-Star game, after missing selection last season, for Andre Drummond, and head coach Dwane Casey bringing out the most from some of the emerging players on the roster would certainly equate to a best-case scenario.

Worst-case scenario

The major factor that could derail the Pistons’ 2019-20 season is health. With four players over 30 on the roster, including 38-year-old Joe Johnson, the risk for players being sidelined is on the high-end of the scale. On the court, the other major factor remains their ability to put the ball in the basket.

In finishing 25th overall in points per game, this marked the third straight year in which the Pistons have finished in the bottom eight in this area. With a host of veteran scorers brought in over the summer, the Pistons hope that their integration will be seamless, and thus immediately assist the Pistons in this department. However, with the age of these players, and the games missed in recent seasons, this is far from a certainty.

Aside from scoring and health, there are a host of teams placed below them on the standings in the 2018-19 season that could be poised to overtake them. The Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks and even the 22-win Chicago Bulls are all teams that could potentially take an enormous leap this season, and thus overtake the Pistons in the standings. With such an even spread of teams, the Pistons will need to be on their game to avoid this taking place.