The Detroit Pistons added a versatile big man in John Collins during the offseason, and the early returns suggest that he could help out in multiple frontcourt positions.
Over the past two seasons, Tobias Harris was a mainstay in the Detroit Pistons starting lineup with 136 regular season starts under his belt. As a veteran who brought stability to a young Detroit team, Harris logged 63 starts last year after appearing in the first five 73 times the campaign before, but the Pistons needed to eventually find their long-term answer at the four.
In the offseason, Pistons President of Basketball Operations kicked the tires and checked if Harris would return to Motown on a two-year deal where only the first season was guaranteed, but the 15-year pro was not interested in such an arrangement. As a result, the Pistons pivoted to other options on the market and worked out a sign-and-trade deal with the Los Angeles Clippers for John Collins.
As an accomplished veteran himself, Collins averaged over 13 points and five rebounds per game for the Clips most recently in what was a down year compared to the rest of his career. Without his typical usage, Collins still shot over 40% from three-point range, and he’ll bring a lot of optionality to the Pistons frontcourt without Harris penciled into the lineup.
Collins, who is a 6-9, 225 pound Wake Forest product, will help Detroit stretch the floor given his shooting ability while also crashing the glass and extending possessions at other times. That inside-outside factor is a dynamic element to Collins’ game that will showcase his lob threat when crashing to the rim from the second level.
With the size to run the pick and roll with Cade Cunningham this season, Collins should feature prominently in finish-driven sets for the Pistons near the paint or in a catch-and-shoot role on the perimeter. Overall, Collins offers a versatile profile as a big man who can contribute to the Pistons in a variety of ways, and he’ll have a clear path to legitimate minutes in the Motor City for the 2026-27 campaign.
To underscore Collins’ value to the Pistons, Langdon even thinks that he could log minutes as a center this season depending on the rest of Detroit’s lineup. Since both Isaiah Stewart and Paul Reed operated as the Pistons’ second and third-string centers a year ago, Collins has the size and grit in the low post required for the task even if it hasn’t been an extensive part of his game in the past. But if Detroit flexes to a small-ball lineup with shooters spread across the perimeter, Collins could slide to the five to anchor the lineup down low if need be.
For the most part, Reed is expected to grab a hold of the Pistons’ backup center job early in the season with Beef Stew on Memphis’ squad with Jalen Duren as part of the first unit. However, Duren has not even signed his contract yet for the upcoming season, so in a sense Detroit’s depth chart at the five is still somewhat in flux.
On that front, Duren has until Oct. 1 to decide whether or not to take his qualifying offer, so there will be clarity regarding his restricted free agency sooner rather than later.
