Detroit Pistons depth chart predictions: Could Ausar Thompson start? Are there more moves to come?

Slowly but surely, the Detroit Pistons’ 2024-25 roster is coming together. Yet, it still feels like something might be coming down the pipeline.

After signing second-round pick Bobi Klintman to a four-year contract on Saturday (the first two years are guaranteed, league sources told The Athletic), Detroit currently has 14 players with guaranteed deals for next season on the roster. That certainly doesn’t mean that more stuff can’t happen. The Pistons still have about $11.5 million in cap space as well as the $7.9 million room exception to use. There are still good free agents out there like Gary Trent Jr., Tyus Jones and others. The feeling I get, though, is that Detroit wants to keep some financial flexibility to potentially complete a trade or two somewhere down the line.

The season is still months away, so new president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon has time to figure things out. However, the Pistons’ roster is starting to come together. It’s now time to take a way-too-early look at how I believe the depth chart would stand if Langdon and Co. decided to be done making moves today, as well as the thoughts and questions I may have.

Why Ausar Thompson over Simone Fontecchio?

This is the toughest one to call a few months out from the start of training camp, but while the Pistons have made it clear that they are prioritizing putting shooters around Cade Cunningham to help with spacing, there does still need to be some defense in the starting group. Thompson is one of the two best defenders on the team (along with Isaiah Stewart), and in Malik Beasley and Tobias Harris, the Pistons still have two good-to-great spacers in the starting lineup.

It wouldn’t surprise me one bit, though, if new head coach J.B. Bickerstaff elected to start Fontecchio and use Thompson as the four off the bench to surround both him and Cunningham with shooting when they’re on the floor, but I still tend to believe that the defensive-minded head coach would want someone with the starting group who can guard the opposing team’s best player. Don’t get me wrong, Fontecchio is a solid defender, but Thompson is and has the potential to be on another level, while not putting pressure on Cunningham to defend the best guards on the other teams.

In my eyes, Bickerstaff can’t go wrong starting either Thompson or Fontecchio as there are advantages both ways. I’d assume that his rotation, if Thompson does begin games, would have it so that Fontecchio is one of the first two off the bench to join Cunningham, so there is a way to prioritize defense still while ushering in even more spacing for Cunningham to operate early on in games.

Are we sure Jalen Duren starts at center?

One way to maximize a starting lineup that features Cunningham, two shooters and Thompson even more would be to start a center who can space the floor and defend. Stewart checks both boxes. However, assuming the Pistons’ frontcourt stays the same from now until the start of the season, I get the sense that the team will start the 20-year-old Duren, who still has a lot of upside despite struggling defensively in his second season.

Duren is the team’s best vertical-spacing option for Cunningham and the best rebounder. He’s extension eligible next summer, so the team does need to find out how it feels about both Duren and Ivey sooner rather than later. I wouldn’t be surprised if Stewart is one of the first players off the bench if my depth-chart prediction is correct because of the defensive versatility, how he’s grown as a 3-point threat and the fact Duren has struggled with early foul trouble in his young career so far.

I wouldn’t be one bit shocked if the Cunningham-Beasley-Thompson-Harris-Stewart lineup turned heads at training camp and was productive in the preseason, posing the question if that should, indeed, be the starting group. But, as of now, I have a tough time believing Bickerstaff won’t start Duren if he’s on the roster next season.

What will happen with Jaden Ivey and Marcus Sasser?

The Pistons’ offseason, to me, signals that Ivey isn’t guaranteed a starting spot next season. Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. — to be more specific, the shooting of Beasley and Hardaway — are more natural fits alongside Cunningham because of their track record in this league. Now, Ivey by far has the most upside of the three, but his shooting inconsistencies have yet to make him and Cunningham a perfect pairing. While Beasley, Hardaway and Ivey are all not known for their defense, at least the first two have many years under their belts of being good-to-great 3-point threats.

As things look right now, the most obvious way for Ivey to see significant minutes is as the backup point guard, which isn’t his natural position. However, there’s also Sasser, who isn’t a natural point guard but is a better shooter and defender than Ivey currently. Ivey’s status as a No. 5 pick a few years ago and the natural potential that comes with him being an elite athlete does make it feel more likely that he’ll get an opportunity for more minutes. Furthermore, as I mentioned with Duren, Ivey is also extension eligible next summer, so Detroit’s new decision-makers do have to start formulating their long-term opinions on the two somewhat soon.

If Detroit were to make a trade of some significance between now and the end of the season, my gut tells me it would involve either Ivey or Sasser just because of how the offseason has played out for Detroit so far. If the team goes out and signs, let’s say, Tyus Jones to be the backup point guard, then yeah, both players probably feel even more concerned about their futures in the Motor City. However, if things stay the same, it certainly feels like one of Ivey or Sasser won’t get regular minutes or be on the roster next season based on the depth at shooting guard, there not being minutes for three or four young guards every single night and, well, the potential positive trade value of moving either Ivey or Sasser right now as opposed to the trade deadline or next summer.

(Top photo of Ausar Thompson: Luke Hales / Getty Images)