The Detroit Pistons made a series of roster moves this offseason will alter their rotation at the four and five spots moving forward
During the summer, the Detroit Pistons have not shied away from shaking up their roster with several notable trades already on the books, but the question is how much alteration that squad needed after winning 60 games during the regular season last year. Of course, the Pistons earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference for their handiwork prior to the postseason, but their second round playoff exit was an earlier departure than what many people in the Motor City thought was possible.
So, in an effort to revamp the roster with key changes that will make an impact moving forward, Pistons President of Basketball Operations Trajan Langdon has engineered a series of deals to give Detroit more flexibility. The outgoing parties include Tobias Harris (free agency), Isaiah Stewart, Caris LeVert and Marcus Sasser, who all played important roles during the 2025-26 season but had varying degrees of impact during the playoffs.
For Beef Stew, this past run represented the second straight postseason where he was unable to contribute to his team in the way that he would’ve wanted. In the first round against the Orlando Magic, Stewart had a dominant eight-block performance off the bench, but he played sparingly after that against the Magic and saw his playing time float around 12 minutes per game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Officially, the Pistons’ position after the postseason ended was that Stewart was not injured during round one, but the big man was less effective after taking a hard spill on the baseline versus Orlando. So, whether by tactical design or by way of health, Stewart closed out his Detroit career on a sour note as his teammates did their best to win game seven against the Cavs in Detroit before ultimately coming up short.
Now with Stewart on the Memphis Grizzlies and Harris on the San Antonio Spurs, the Pistons have a wealth of frontcourt minutes to redistribute. John Collins is expected to slot right into the starting lineup and take up Harris’ mantle at the four, but he will offer quite a bit more from an offensive standpoint than his predecessor given his three-point shooting ability, status as a lob threat and willingness to crash the offensive glass. Not to say Harris did not contribute in these areas, but those are key components to Collins’ game, so expect for the new Detroit power forward to serve as a stretch four while in Motown.
As for the center position, Paul Reed is going to be asked to contribute even more with Stewart out of town. Last season, B-Ball Paul helped bolster what was widely believed to be the deepest three-man center contingent in the NBA with All-Star Jalen Duren receiving most of the fan fare, but Reed was lauded for his instant-impact off the bench and ability to make plays on both ends of the court.
Right now, the Pistons would likely position Tolu Smith as the team’s third-string center given his experience between the NBA and the G-League, and rookie Ugonna Onyenso could provide backup after that when need be. However, Onyenso is still raw from an offensive skill set perspective and will need some more time to adjust to the timing and spacing of professional hoops, but keep an eye on the shot-swatting big man who could find himself in Stewart’s old rim-protecting role if his shot develops in due time.
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