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It’s been a tough two-week stretch watching a team the Detroit Pistons probably should have passed get stomped on by the New York Knc

That’s not to say Detroit would have beaten New York in the Eastern Conference Finals, but the fight would have been there. Ultimately, the same glaring shortcomings that lingered throughout the season kept them from truly entering the conversation.

Now the Pistons enter one of the most fascinating offseasons the franchise has had in years, and the decisions ahead could define their future as a contender.

What makes it especially interesting is how interconnected everything feels. On paper, the core of this team already exists, and it seems likely Trajan Langdon’s focus will be on filling holes around the young stars already in place. Still, there’s a lingering feeling that a bigger swing could be brewing.

We’ll explore Detroit’s biggest offseason needs and why each move makes sense. The real intrigue will come from how those deals get done and which players the organization is willing to part with.

1. Re-signing Duren

An underwhelming postseason should impact the overall price tag of Jalen Duren’s next contract, but it still feels clear he is firmly part of Detroit’s future. If the team decides to let Duren go into restricted free agency, only a few teams will have enough cap space to be able to offer Duren a hefty contract. During the 2022 NBA offseason, the Indiana Pacers signed Deandre Ayton to a four-year, $133 million maximum offer sheet—the largest in league history at the time. However, the Suns matched the offer within hours, retaining the center and keeping him on their roster for the next season. Duren would command more money but this could be a similar representation of what we end up seeing.

For the record, I do think there’s some danger in automatically penciling in Duren and Ausar Thompson as long-term fits next to Cade Cunningham. Building around those three means the Pistons have to be extremely intentional with the type of players they place around them, which can make the roster more one-dimensional offensively.

Still, the upside Duren displayed this season was undeniable and earned him Third Team All-NBA honors. The fourth-year big man has improved steadily every season, and this year represented by far the biggest leap of his career, even if some of his best traits disappeared in the postseason.

With a little time removed from Detroit’s collapse against Cleveland, it’s easier to identify why Duren struggled. Most productive playoff big men benefit from better spacing and more offensive balance around them. We even saw during last year’s Knicks series that Duren looked far more comfortable with additional shooting on the floor.

There’s also another leap Duren can realistically make at just 22 years old: shooting.

It’s rare for centers to suddenly develop a consistent jumper midway through their career, but Duren has shown flashes and is only 22 years old. His free throw percentage jumped from 67 percent to 75 percent while taking three more attempts per game. That doesn’t mean he’s about to become a stretch five overnight, but over the course of his next contract it would not be surprising if he develops into at least a respectable mid-range or perimeter threat.

2. Finding a secondary creator

Detroit’s lack of shooting was exposed in the postseason, although there were still stretches where the offense looked functional. The larger issue came whenever Cade Cunningham left the floor. The offense often looked lost, to the point where Detroit had no choice but to overextend him.

It’s difficult to blame Cunningham entirely for the volume of mistakes late in games, even if many of them were careless. It became easy to forget that he entered the playoffs still recovering from a collapsed lung. The workload eventually piled up to a point where the mistakes felt inevitable.

Finding additional shooting is manageable in today’s NBA. Finding someone who can actually organize an offense for stretches and be trusted in a playoff setting is more difficult.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Detroit needs to swing for a superstar like Devin Booker or Kyrie Irving. They simply need someone who can fill a similar stylistic role. Atlanta’s trade for CJ McCollum at the deadline completely changed the trajectory of their season. A low-risk, high-reward veteran addition can raise both the floor and ceiling of a contender.

It’s still frustrating for Pistons fans to think about what this playoff run may have looked like with another secondary creator on the roster. At least now the need is impossible to ignore, and fortunately it should not be overly difficult to find help in that area.

3. Adding frontcourt shooting

Tobias Harris proved he can be a secondary scorer on a playoff team, but probably not on a true championship-level roster. His postseason success may have also played himself into a contract Detroit either cannot or will not entertain.

That means Langdon will need to get creative replacing what Harris brought to the lineup, if it comes down to that.

Depending on how aggressive Detroit gets this offseason, the role Harris played could be completely reimagined. The Pistons already proved they can defend at a high level throughout the roster, and Harris was part of that identity. But everyone understands they need more offensive firepower.

If sacrificing a little defensive versatility makes Cade Cunningham’s life easier offensively, it is probably worth it. That should be the mindset entering the summer.

So what does that frontcourt change actually look like?

If Detroit plans to re-sign Duren, they need a high-level shooter on the floor with him at all times. Too often during the playoffs the spacing collapsed because there simply were not enough complementary offensive players around him.

Cleveland provided a perfect example in the second round. Evan Mobley’s perimeter development completely changed the geometry of the floor and opened opportunities for everyone else.

Maybe Detroit solves multiple issues at once by targeting a dynamic scoring forward who can also space the floor. Someone like Lauri Markkanen immediately comes to mind.

No matter what direction they choose, frontcourt shooting has to become a priority.

Bonus

Detroit needs more perimeter scoring, and this draft gives them an opportunity to find an immediate contributor.

Last year the Pistons played it safe by drafting a more one-dimensional prospect in Chaz Lanier, but the 21st pick in this class appears to hold more value. Some names connected to Detroit include Baylor’s Cameron Carr, Duke’s Isaiah Evans, and Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz.

Expectations have followed Karl-Anthony Towns since he entered the league. This isn’t unique for a former No. 1 overall pick, but it always felt different with Towns.

He’s been far from a bust. Six All-Star appearances, three All-NBA selections, three trips to the conference finals. Most front offices would be beyond themselves at the prospect of drafting a player with this kind of resume. But Towns has always left people wanting more.

Historically, he’s been at his best offensively at the center position. But his physical limitations gave his teams a hard ceiling on defense when they went with this alignment. If you play him at the four spot, he tends to disappear on the offensive side of the ball. How can you build a true contender with this sort of conundrum on your hands?

Well, this postseason, Towns has given us the answer to this seemingly unsolvable riddle, and now, we’re finally getting the fully-realized version of him that we’ve all been waiting for. 

Mike Brown Has Optimized Towns

A critical flaw of Towns is that he often gets tunnel vision whenever he puts the ball on the floor to attack, making it easy to load up on him without fear of him burning the extra help with a pass. Of the 161 players with at least five drives per game in the regular season, Towns touted the fourth-lowest pass rate (18.8%, per NBA.com). 

However, Towns has always had a knack for feathering pretty passes in tight windows when he can survey the floor from a standstill position. To maximize this, after their Game 3 loss to the Atlanta Hawks (the inflection point of the New York Knicks’ season), head coach Mike Brown started running more five-out offense with Towns initiating from the perimeter (often referred to as “delay”). 

If you spent any amount of time watching the Sacramento Kings when Brown was their coach, you’ve probably seen some form of this with Domantas Sabonis. However, it works even better with Towns on the perimeter because his all-time shooting prowess makes it so that the player guarding him (usually a center) must stay attached to him, nullifying their ability to sink back and protect the paint. Couple that with how hard it is for teams to switch off-ball screens featuring the bruising OG Anunoby and the slippery Jalen Brunson, and you have a recipe for offensive dominance (the Knicks are first in offensive rating this postseason).

Towns Deserves Some Flowers 

To say that Towns is playing the best basketball of his career simply because of decisions made by his coach would be a major disservice. After all, the Cleveland Cavaliers did a great job of defanging the Knicks’ delay offense (as seen in the Knicks’ first offensive possession of the series). Yet, Towns was still immensely effective, finishing a +79 in four games. At the end of the day, Towns’ success is firmly his own doing. 

For starters, quick decisions have never been a strong suit of his. Too often, it seems like he overcomplicates the game, allowing smaller players to get under his skin and bait him into silly offensive fouls, when he should just enable his blend of size, quickness, and skill to make him a walking mismatch.

Conviction has gone from a question mark to a weapon for Towns this postseason. His dribbles per touch are the lowest they’ve ever been, evidence of his decisiveness as an attacker. When a tilt in the defense presents itself, he no longer waits for the floor to re-balance; he exploits it and cashes in.

This is another reason why Towns, the passing hub, has worked so well. Since he’s bullying his way through tinier players, you have to guard him with a big man. Cross-matching assignments is no longer a choice; it’s a death sentence. 

Part of the reason Towns is flourishing on offense is that the Knicks have allowed him to operate as the sole big man on the floor (only sharing 27 minutes with Mitchell Robinson this postseason, per PBP Stats). Only this time, it isn’t the detriment to their defense that it once was. 

I want to say that Towns is defending is you know what, off. But since this is a family-friendly website, I’ll just say he’s defending his tail off. 

A picture-perfect example of this came in Game 3 against the Cavaliers. Early on, Cleveland was doing a great job of punishing his soft hedge/at the level coverage by hitting the roll man and unlocking a 4-on-3 power player (first clip in montage below). The Knicks adjusted by having Towns switch to drop coverage (which he executed perfectly, second clip). But Towns also maintained the presence of mind to know when to switch to a hard hedge/trap when ballscreens were angled toward the sideline (like he did to force a jump ball on James Harden). 

It isn’t a perfect measure, but one way to get a glimpse of Towns’ impact is through Basketball Reference’s Box Plus-Minus (BPM). Through two rounds, Towns was one of only four players to maintain a BPM over 14 while playing at least ten playoff games. Since then, that number has dipped a hair, but he is still at a level that few players in NBA postseason history have ever reached.

Now, is Towns actually in the same player classification as the names listed in that tweet? Absolutely not. But is Towns playing at a borderline All-NBA level right now? Probably.

And most importantly, the Knicks are the closest they have been to ending their championship drought that they have been in the last three decades, thanks in large part to Towns unlocking the best version of himself.

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Victor Wembanyama may be in only his third year in the NBA, but it is hard to imagine the San Antonio Spurs’ superstar letting the Western Conference Finals end short of seven games.

Of course, the Oklahoma City Thunder hope to end this series tonight, but these Thunder vs. Spurs props and NBA picks put too much trust in San Antonio’s role players on Thursday, May 28.

For more analysis, read our complete Thunder vs. Spurs predictions.

Best Thunder vs Spurs props for Game 6

Player	Pick
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Over 7.5 assists	-145
Dylan Harper	Over 3.5 rebounds	-115
Julian Champagnie	Over 2.5 threes	+110

Game 6 Prop #1: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Over 7.5 assists

These Game 5 props included this same bet priced at -130. The Oklahoma City Thunder star then proceeded to dish out nine assists. Thus, this price moving to -145 makes some sense, but it is not enough of a move to scare off the thought.

Frankly, oddsmakers need to move this number to 8.5 in this series, and until they do, it will continue to be a quick bet.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has little choice but to move the ball. Down two backcourt mates — Jalen Williams is again listed as questionable, but consider yours truly skeptical of his availability — SGA has the ball in his hands more, but also has more defensive attention.

Look at his field-goal attempts. The two-time MVP took 23 and 24 shots in the first two games, respectively. He has since averaged 17 shots per game, despite handling the ball more often.

It is no coincidence SGA has now cleared this prop in four of five games, falling short by only the hook in Game 4 and averaging 9.8 assists per game.

Oklahoma City needs the ball in his hands, while the San Antonio Spurs are able to devote the defensive pressure to force it out of his hands.

Game 6 Prop #2: Dylan Harper Over 3.5 rebounds

Since Dylan Harper tweaked his hamstring in Game 2, his scoring has plummeted. Perhaps that is by coincidence, but going just 5-for-16 from the field in the three games since and averaging six points per game is rather notable for someone who was previously shooting 53.5% this postseason and averaging 14.4 points per game.

There is some inclination to take the Under on Harper’s points prop, set at 9.5 (-115 at bet365). But he is still logging minutes, 25 in Game 5, and perhaps he finds a rhythm now eight days removed from that initial injury.

Despite the clear knock on his explosiveness, Harper has still found rebounds. He snagged five in Game 4 and six in Game 5. Credit the rookie for finding ways to impact the game despite losing some of his offensive effectiveness.

That emphasis should continue. San Antonio needs to play Harper, and he needs to keep making those minutes matter in some way.

Game 6 Prop #3: Julian Champagnie Over 2.5 3-pointers

This is somewhat out of the usual want to include at least one plus-money prop. (Many days in the WNBA feature three plus-money props, and those are the halcyon days of spring and summer.)

But it is also recognizing just how many 3-pointers Julian Champagnie has taken in this series. Sure, he went 0-for-5 in Game 4, but the number to notice there is the five. It marked actual reluctance from the gunner.

Otherwise, Champagnie has taken at least seven 3-pointers in each game of this series. He has shot 37.6% from deep in the postseason after hitting 38.1% in the regular season.

When taking seven 3-pointers, it is more likely than not Champagnie will hit at least three of them. This should not be set at plus money.

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.