Photo by Kate Frese/NBAE via Getty Images The Detroit Pistons addressed a lot of deficiencies this offseason but point guard was not one of them The list of the fundamental deficiencies of last year’s Detroit Pistons was almost too long to count. There is a reason the team won just 14 games — a franchise low. Armed with a large war chest of cap room, a new president of basketball operations, and, seemingly, a mandate to invest in better play on the floor, Detroit was able to address a number of their largest issues. The team added reliable veterans who can be counted on to play night in and night out in the form of Tobias Harris, they added shooting in the form of Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr., and they added a more reliable backup center in Paul Reed (and in moving Isaiah Stewart back to center, where he should have been all along). What they did not add was a veteran point guard to play behind starter Cade Cunningham. They certainly could have. They opted not to get in the running for high-profile guards on the block like Dejounte Murray or Josh Giddey. They didn’t sign a free agent, despite being on the only team with significant cap space available when Tyus Jones was looking for a new team. Instead, the team determined that point guard would be handled internally despite the fact that zero players on the roster should be called a point guard. Ball handling should and will be the primary responsibility of Cade Cunningham. That’s fine. He is imperfect, but he took a step forward in eliminating many of his careless turnovers after the first quarter of the season last year. Point guards Cade should be relied on for 24+ points and could reasonably average 8+ assists and fewer than three turnovers per game. It’s all those non-Cade minutes we have to worry about. That burden could fall on some starters if the team aggressively staggers Cade’s minutes. New head coach JB Bickerstaff has talked up center Jalen Duren’s big-man passing all offseason, and the team is making a concerted effort to get the ball in Jaden Ivey’s hands more. There have also been talks about making the non-shooting Ausar Thompson more of a ball-handling playmaker in the second unit, and asking Marcus Sasser, a shooting guard in a point guard’s body, to orchestrate the second unit. But you know that saying — When a task is everyone’s job, then it’s nobody’s job? I feel like that might apply to this season’s Detroit Pistons. Not what you want to see when the team is coming off a season that saw more than it’s share of inexcusable turnovers from an error-prone, young team. Everyone is going to be asked to be a distributor and a bit of a playmaker to weather the non-Cade minutes, but nobody is going to take on the responsibility of actually running the team’s offense to any compelling degree. This could cause a bit of indigestion and heartache among the fan base. Originally, I figured the team was explicitly not signing a point guard because they saw it as the best avenue to minutes for Jaden Ivey. Ivey, with an unreliable outside shot, felt like a player whose starting spot at shooting guard could go to Malik Beasley to help create space for Cunningham. Ivey, though, had other plans. He’s been the team’s biggest revelation this offseason. Showing a more mature game plan when on the floor, a quieter, more consistent shot, and more decisive, winning plays when on- and off-ball. Simply put, I think Ivey secured his starting spot, and now it’s hard to imagine them taking him off the floor for significant stretches. Conversely, Sasser has been pretty much a disaster as a point guard this offseason. He’s making poor decisions, he’s junking up the offense, and, worst of all, he seems overwhelmed to the point that it is impacting his willingness to chuck shots — his most marketable skill. Compounding the issue, Ausar Thompson remains out as he and the team wait for him to be cleared to return from a blood clot issue. Duren, meanwhile ... let’s just say it’s an adventure any time he looks to pass the ball. It could result in an amazing play, or it could become an ugly turnover. Shooting Guards If we switch our attention to the shooting guard position, dare I say, this team might have an embarrassment of riches. As previously stated, Ivey looks to have locked down the shooting guard spot. If he’s truly ready to take a big leap this season, it could completely change the trajectory of what this team is capable of this season and beyond. Behind Ivey, the team will likely turn to veteran Malik Beasley, who has probably the quickest shot on the team and over the past four seasons is hitting over 38% of his threes and attempting nearly 8 per game. There is also veteran Tim Hardaway Jr. who most people think of as a point guard, but who is likely relegated to trying to survive as a small forward as he’s slowed down. Lastly, the team is going to be craving minutes from its pair of dynamic, defensive light-shooting young players in Thompson and rookie Ron Holland Jr. Both can play multiple positions on the floor, but they are also not yet bulked up to full NBA form as of yet and will likely be asked to guard many a dangerous perimeter defender. Holland is also someone who can reasonably make the right read on the floor and the ball never sticks in his hands. How does it all shake out? Cade will play 30-34 minutes per night. It feels like the Pistons will be more aggressively staggering Ivey’s minutes so that Jaden can run the team when Cade is off the floor. Ivey will play plenty alongside Beasley, with each commanding between 26-30 minutes per night. If the team needs a pressure release alongside Ivey when team’s try and play aggressively, they might carve out time for Sasser as another player who can bring the ball up the floor, but I’m not sure how much I believe it could work. An alternative is Ron Holland. Not because he wouldn’t be prone to his own share of rookie mistakes, but because they will likely be hunting for ways to plug Holland into the lineup early in the season. There is a real possibility that both Holland and Sasser play themselves out of the rotation, however, and the Pistons will need to prepare for a world where they are meticulously managing the Ivey and Cade ball-handling duties alongside veterans who at least know where they should be on the floor.