May 9, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Duncan Robinson (55) reacts after a play against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the second half of game three in the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Imag es There’s beauty in the Pistons being a physical, gritty team in a city like Detroit, and I certainly have bias towards the modern game, but Trajan Langdon and JB Bickerstaff both have to create more opportunities for the long ball this summer. The Concept of Spacing To me, spacing is an unselfish act on the basketball court. It’s an attempt to keep distance from the ball or teammates in order to give them the best chance at creating a scoring opportunity. It can pull the help defender far enough away to create a driving lane for your teammate, or it can create an open catch-and-shoot look if the help defender drops into the paint – it’s a win-win situation. It’s what makes a drive-and-kick offense look so pretty. Last night, Stephon Castle passed Alex Caruso on his way to the rim and drew the help of Chet Holmgren. He kicked it to Keldon Johnson in the corner who found De’Aaron Fox for the open three while the Thunder defense was left scrambling. That’s pretty spacing. View Link Players who know the value of spacing know the value of three-point shooting. It takes a confident player to prioritize scoring from behind the arc – see 2025 Malik Beasley. Detroit’s young core enjoys scoring at the rim (or has yet to develop a jump shot) and they need complementary players that want to create room for them. Look at the spacing Jared McCain provided on this made three last night: View Link He might’ve had a cut to the rim for a layup attempt, but McCain instead sticks to what he does best and knocks down an open corner three. He basically has his hands up and ready to shoot from the time he crosses halfcourt. Detroit needs more guys like this – guys that want to take the majority of their shots from deep. Detroit’s Spacing With two non-shooters in the starting lineup, Detroit doesn’t have the type of spacing that San Antonio or Oklahoma City does. The Pistons were one of the best teams at scoring inside this season, but they need to find a better balance on the court. The paint was packed during the postseason. Against Cleveland, one of Cade’s many turnovers came on a possession where he didn’t have a shooter in the corner. With both Ausar and Duren collapsing for an offensive rebound chance, Cunningham didn’t have someone to kick it out to. Compare this to the Spurs clip above where they had a shooter in the corner. View Link Here’s another Cade TO and one that I wouldn’t put the blame on him. Caris LeVert walks from the corner to block to set an off-ball screen on his own man (?) and it just ends up putting an extra defender right in Cunningham’s way. LeVert had no understanding of spacing as he actively hurt the offense on this possession. View Link This last one humored me. Ron Holland puts his hands out towards Daniss Jenkins and Tobias Harris to ensured they’re spaced out, but things get cramped quick as Cade misses Ron on the 45 cut. View Link The Lack of Shooters You can’t knock a player for playing towards his strengths. You can’t knock a coach for putting a player in a position to play towards his strengths. If you’re confident in scoring inside, you’re going to try to get to the rim – as you should! However, this summer, Trajan Langdon needs to find guys that are confident in letting it fly. The shot diet of the Pistons needs to have more balance. Detroit was 29/30 in three-point attempts in the regular season and 14/16 throughout the playoffs. They were 5/16 in percentage, however, and that felt like a surprise to me given their spacing struggles in the postseason. Halfcourt offense can become predictable when a shot from outside isn’t feared. I looked at the top-10 guys in the rotation to see where they were getting majority of their attempts from. I wanted to know what percentage of their shots were two-pointers vs what percentage were three-pointers. To me, it helps give an idea on where a player prioritizes scoring on the court. Here’s what I found: PlayerMinutes Per Game%FGA 2PT%FGA 3PTCade Cunningham34.969.2%30.8%Jalen Duren28.2100.0%0.0%Tobias Harris27.766.2%33.8%Duncan Robinson27.423.2%76.8%Ausar Thompson26.095.8%4.2%Isaiah Stewart22.770.1%29.9%Daniss Jenkins20.265.7%34.3%Ron Holland19.963.6%36.4%Caris LeVert19.254.0%46.0%Javonte Green17.640.3%59.7% Only Duncan Robinson and Javonte Green attempted more threes than twos among guys in their main rotation. With Green being Detroit’s 10th-man, Robinson was the only real floor spacer and he was brought off the bench for the final two games. This can’t be the case next year. This is also why Tobias Harris needs to move to a bench role as Detroit looks to move forward with their core of Cunningham, Thompson, and Duren. While they don’t need someone who shoots as many threes as Robinson, they do need a forward who’s a scoring threat from deep. Play finishers that can knock down a three after a Cade drive-and-kick need to be a priority this summer. Compare the roster with potential offseason targets for Detroit: Player%FGA 2PT%FGA 3PTAyo Dosunmu62.1%37.9%CJ McCollum55.9%44.1%Coby White49.0%51.0%Jabari Smith Jr49.9%50.1%Jrue Holiday48.9%51.1%Kawhi Leonard64.6%35.4%Myles Turner40.6%59.4%Naz Reid48.6%51.4%Norman Powell54.2%45.8%Rui Hachimura56.1%43.9%Trey Murphy III46.2%53.8% I’m all game for adding two 50/50 scorers around the young core. We’ll get into offseason target previews later, but my personal favorites would be Jrue Holiday and Naz Reid. Get more shooting, Trajan! Go Stones. ...read more read less