Sometimes, the best players aren’t the most important.
Marvin Bagley III is far from the Detroit Pistons best big man, but his presence in the rotation is important. He’s Dwane Casey’s security blanket off the bench, athletic enough to bounce between power forward and center when his number is called.
More so, it allows Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren to play together in the starting lineup.
That two-big lineup has been one of the few bright spots for the downtrodden Pistons this season, but with Bagley set to miss “extended time” due to a hand injury suffered Monday in Portland, it puts the immediate future of that pairing in question.