The Detroit Pistons have made some moves to revamp the roster this summer, but the splashy move to catapult them to the top tier of title contenders never came. They addressed their shooting needs, but have largely ignored their need for more ball-handling and playmaking. This puts unrealistic expectations on Daniss Jenkins, and this isn't fair to the 24-year-old guard.
Jenkins emerged out of nowhere last season to establish himself as a quality rotation piece. He earned his way from a two-way contract to a standard deal. He will likely be a great value contract for the Pistons next season, making $4 million.
However, the Pistons will be relying on Jenkins more than most teams do on their players making $4 million. This is due to the fact that Detroit is still severely low on offensive creators. Besides Cade Cunningham, the Pistons don't have a consistently reliable shot creator who can generate good looks for himself and others.
Looking at his skill set, Jenkins is at least a facsimile of this player type. He is dynamic with the ball in his hands and can create advantages against his defender.
At the same time, he is way too underqualified to be one of the primary offensive engines of a title contender.
Daniss Jenkins is too unproven to have such a large offensive role in Detroit
Even in his breakout season, Jenkins was very inefficient. He shot 42.6% from the two-point range and had a True Shooting of 52.5%, well below league average. Things didn't fare much better in the playoffs when Jenkins scored 9.1 points in 22.7 minutes per game on 36.1/27.1/77.4 shooting splits.
However, the Pistons desperately needed Jenkins. There is a reason Jenkins continued to play more as the playoffs went on. The Pistons were able to turn the first-round series against Orlando thanks to a bigger role for Jenkins. Even when Jenkins is struggling with his shot, his dynamism and creativity with the ball were very important for Detroit. Without him, they were too reliant on Cunningham and way too stagnant.
This wasn't enough for the Pistons to beat the Cavs last year. At the end of the day, Detroit's offense wasn't good enough. Sure, Jalen Duren will almost certainly play much better in the playoffs next season, and Ausar Thompson should take a step forward. But the Pistons will still desperately need Jenkins.
That is too much to put on the shoulders of the formerly undrafted combo guard. If he can play the secondary creator role well all season, this will give the Pistons a major boost, both in the regular season and the playoffs. But that can't be the expectation. That is why the Pistons have to acquire more offensive firepower. If they don't, they will be setting Jenkins up to fail and Pistons fans up to be disappointed.
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