The Detroit Pistons are 4-1. They are looking like they will be one of the teams to beat in the Eastern Conference this season. Pistons fans have every reason to start believing that this team can make a deep postseason run.
With this comes increased expectations from players. Yes, the Pistons have a ton of depth, but they also can't afford to waste rotation spots on undeserving players. There are several Pistons who need to be much better over the next few weeks to stay as part of the team's plans going forward.
Ron Holland
The lack of development from Holland has been frustrating to watch in the first five games of the season. In 72 minutes, he is 6/21 from the field and 0/6 from three. Some of his misses from downtown have been particularly brutal, airballing wide-open looks. He is averaging 2.8 points per game and has been one of the least efficient players in the league so far.
This isn't what the Pistons hoped to see from Holland in Year 3. The defensive upside is still there, and Holland is helping the team on that end of the floor. But he is getting harder and harder to play next to Ausar Thompson. Unless he starts hitting shots or making himself useful in half-court offense, his role will be limited to 10-15 minutes per game.
This makes him one of the most likely Pistons to be traded at the deadline.
Kevin Huerter
Through the first five games of the season, Huerter has the worst on/off rating on the team. The Pistons are 28.7 points per 100 possessions worse with him on the floor than off, according to Cleaning the Glass.
Of course, this is a small sample, and things could change, but there is something to this stat. When Huerter enters the game, he immediately becomes the weakest link on defense. He gets targeted consistently.
He doesn't make up for his defensive deficiencies on the other end of the floor. He is shooting 39.3% from the field and 29.4% from downtown.
As things stand now, Huerter still has JB Bickerstaff's trust. He has been playing more in Isaiah Joe's absence, but once he returns, he could see himself marginalized in the rotation. With Chaz Lanier and Ebuka Okorie also waiting for their turn on the sidelines, Huerter could see himself falling in the pecking order. This could result in him being a trade candidate at the deadline.
Tolu Smith
The third-string center is still not getting much playing time despite Jalen Duren's injury. Paul Reed has been playing as many minutes as he can handle, and John Collins has been sliding up to center when Reed is on the bench. The fact that Bickerstaff doesn't trust Smith to play even ten minutes while Duren is sidelined is not a good sign for his outlook.
When Smith has been on the floor, things haven't gone well for him. The Pistons were a whopping -18 in the six minutes he played against the Knicks.
Duren is going to be out for at least another week or so. There are center minutes up for grabs. Unless Smith is able to earn some of those minutes and give the Pistons some decent production, it will be hard to justify keeping the 26-year-old around for much longer.
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