On paper, the Detroit Pistons don't have big problems heading into the postseason. They have the best record in the league, dominated the Eastern Conference all season, and are healthy with six weeks left in the regular season.
They have every reason to believe that they can make a deep playoff run in the spring.
At the same time, this puts pressure on the Pistons. With a relatively weak conference and a healthy, deep team, Detroit can make the NBA Finals if all breaks right. The problem is, the Pistons might not be giving themselves the best chance to win it all with a few of their rotation decisions.
One of those is head coach J.B. Bickerstaff's persistence in sticking with Caris LeVert.
Despite the veteran guard's struggles for most of the season, the Pistons have continued to give him around 20 minutes off the bench. Those minutes have continuously gone poorly, but Bickerstaff has yet to consider alternatives. This could be a major problem against elite playoff competition.
Pistons' Caris LeVert Insistence Is Difficult to Understand
LeVert got off to a slow start this season as he was dealing with a string of lower-body injuries. It was understandable that the Pistons stuck with him to allow the offseason acquisition to slowly integrate into the lineup. Yet, the 31-year-old guard never got going.
In fact, things have looked much worse for him since the All-Star break.
In the six games since the NBA All-Star break, LeVert's production and efficiency have cratered. In that span, he averaged 6.3 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists on 51.2% True Shooting in 18.8 minutes per game.
He's had more turnovers (6) than assists (5) and made fewer than one three-pointer per game. The Pistons lost the 113 minutes he played in that stretch by one. Considering that Detroit was plus-45 as a team during that span, highlighting how big a problem LeVert's time on the court has been.
This has been a trend all season. The Pistons' net rating with LeVert on the floor is 10.1 points worse than when he is off. In fact, when LeVert is off, the Pistons have a plus-11.5 net rating, on par with the league-best Oklahoma City Thunder.
When he is playing, Detroit is a merely plus-1.4 net rating team, which would rank 13th in the league, per Cleaning The Glass.
Most of this difference comes on the offensive side of the ball.
LeVert is a capable defensive player, but he has taken a large step back offensively in recent years. He doesn't take or make enough threes (34.4% on three attempts per game), causing spacing issues for the team. He also has a 17.9% usage rate, suggesting he doesn't create enough shots to justify his presence on the court, either. He simply isn't offensively consistent enough to earn minutes.
The Pistons have options like Marcus Sasser and Kevin Huerter, who can get a chance over LeVert, at least until the end of the season. Allowing them to see if they can give the offense a boost would be a savvy move between now and the postseason.
Otherwise, Bickerstaff would be taking a big risk by riding with LeVert despite all the on-court evidence piling up against him.