Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images Two of the main big men return, but the Pistons do have a new face expected to factor into the rotation. The Detroit Pistons roster underwent a lot of change during the offseason, but if there is one position group that didn’t undergo much change, it is the Big Men. Not everybody from last year’s roster returns, but the main pieces are back and hopefully can stay healthy. Let’s take a look at what the big men rotation is expected to look like. Are they Better than Last Season? James Wiseman is no longer on the team, so that is an automatic “yes.” But in all seriousness, the Big Men rotation should be better than it was last season. For one, Isaiah Stewart is expected to move back to his more natural center position after spending the majority of his minutes at the four last season. Say what you want about Stewart as a player, but he has much more value as a center due to his newfound ability to stretch the floor and take opposing rim protectors out of the paint while bringing toughness and switchability on defense. The biggest question right now for Stewart is his health, as he only played 46 games last season and 50 the year before. For a tough, physical player with the subsequent build to handle it, his inability to stay healthy the past couple seasons has been a bit concerning. That same question goes for the assumed starter, Jalen Duren, who only played 61 games last season. He was healthier than Stewart, but you still want more than 61 games out of your starting center. In the case of Duren, an ankle injury early on slowed him down, but he was mostly healthy down the stretch, so there are actually fewer health concerns surrounding him. To alleviate some of the concerns about depth behind those two, the Pistons added Paul Reed off waivers from Philadelphia in the offseason. Reed is probably too good to be a 3rd string center on a team like the Pistons, so you may see him get some minutes at the four. It may not work the best in terms of spacing, but Reed does provide some shooting ability along with some of the rim running that Jalen Duren provides. In a way, Reed combines both big men’s skillsets in a smaller frame, although he is probably closer to Duren in terms of talents. His shooting just isn’t quite at the level of Isiah Stewart, and his vertical spacing isn’t near what Jalen Duren provides, but he can do both things while being able to rebound and bring energy on defense. Reed played 82 games for the 76ers last year and even started 24 games when Joel Embiid was out, so he showed he can contribute to a winning team. A fully healthy season from Stewart and Duren already makes the rotation better, even if neither player improves. But, if Duren can improve defensively and Isaiah Stewart can continue to shoot the ball as well as he did last season, you have yourself a pretty solid 1-2 punch at center. If you can mix in Paul Reed when you need a burst of energy or one of them is struggling, the Big Men rotation should be much better than it was last season. One thing to note is that players like Simone Fontecchio, Ausar Thompson, and Tobias Harris will probably play a lot of minutes at the four, which I guess is considered a “Big Man” position historically. But, in the case of this preview, I would consider them more of wings, so we are just focusing on what the three main centers bring to the table. What is The Player Rotation at the Position? I kind of touched on this a bit above, but I would expect Jalen Duren to be the starter and Isaiah Stewart to back him up. There is a world in which Isaiah Stewart starts over Duren if Duren isn’t making the necessary strides on defense, but he does provide more size and a rim-running option for Cade Cunningham. As long as Duren is the only non-shooter in the starting lineup, the Pistons can still have a good offense despite his lack of shooting outside the paint. If the Pistons go for a small ball “death” lineup, I would expect that to feature Isaiah Stewart due to his ability to switch on defense and shoot the ball. He may also play some minutes at the four with Jalen Duren, depending on the matchup. Before you get your pitchforks out, I would not expect it to be a regular look like last season, but there will be certain teams where it could work. Paul Reed will be the “third center,” but I would think he is still going to get minutes. He probably sees some minutes at the four and is very good insurance in the event Stewart or Duren can’t stay healthy. If the team opts to play him at the four, it works far better with Isiah Stewart than it does with Jalen Duren since Isaiah Stewart doesn’t do most of his damage around the rim like Reed and Duren does. There could also be a world where the team tries to reduce Duren and Stewart’s minutes slightly to prevent injury, and Paul Reed plays a few minutes each game in a three-center rotation. No matter what path JB Bickerstaff decides to take with his Big Man rotation, he has three reliable options, each bringing something different to the table. Even if Reed isn’t a regular rotation member, having a reliable veteran with a consistent skillset is very easy to insert into the game when needed. At some point, the Pistons may want to add another body to the roster just to have in case of injury, but the team at least won’t be forced to rely on James Wiseman or Chimeze Metu to fill minutes when players go down with injuries. What is the overall outlook/conclusion? Overall, the Pistons' big-man rotation should be better. How good they end up being is in the hands of Jalen Duren's improvement as a defender. Paul Reed is pretty much what he is at this point, and Isaiah Stewart is, for the most part, as well. They are both still relatively young and can improve a bit, but both players at least know what they are doing defensively and know their niches on offense. Jalen Duren has the skill to be a very good offensive center, even if the shooting doesn’t develop, but without improvements on defense, the team is going to struggle to be competitive with him playing the most minutes at center. However, if the team opts to just use Isaiah Stewart and Paul Reed if Jalen Duren is really struggling, you lose a lot of size and the team will struggle to hang with some of the bigger teams in the league. That is why Jalen Duren is the key to all of this, but he also needs to be held accountable on the defensive end if this team has any hope of improving this season. He is penciled in as the starter for now, but that could change quick if he isn’t a better defender. It is easy to move Isaiah Stewart into the starting lineup and make Paul Reed the backup if you need more consistency on defense. Let’s hope those improvements happen and Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart become the Big Man rotation of the present and future.