Most casual fans do not know who Isaiah Stewart is, mostly because he plays on the Detroit Pistons, who have been terrible for all but one year of his career. Those who do know him mostly see him as a troublemaker who is always getting in fights. Seriously, some of the pearl-clutching under any Stewart highlight is epic. But the truth they may not know is that he is one of the most versatile and impactful defenders in the NBA.
That wasn’t enough for him to crack the Game Theory podcast’s top 25 defenders, but he was right on the outside looking in, losing some amount of credit because he is not a starter who plays huge minutes.