The Pistons tipped their hand as to their off-season shopping list with the aborted trade for Donatas Motiejunas.
“We’re going to need to bring in a big (power forward),” Stan Van Gundy said this week.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be shopping for a starter at that spot. If the Pistons line up with Tobias Harris and Marcus Morris as their starters next season – as they surely will, health willing, for the final 24 this season – well, Van Gundy is just fine with that.
“I think they’re both starting-caliber guys. It all depends on where your roster goes and everything else,” Van Gundy said. “You’d love to get to the point where you have starting-caliber guys coming off your bench. But certainly if we have to go into next season and beyond with those two guys as our starting forwards, we’re pretty happy with that.”
It’s going to present some challenges. Anthony Davis went for 59 points against the Pistons to start the week, though losing Anthony Tolliver early in that game and having to adjust on the fly while shorthanded for other reasons didn’t help. Kevin Love scored 14 in the first quarter of Monday’s win at Cleveland as the Cavs posted him up on their first three possessions against Harris. Teams that play with bigger power forwards will try to exploit their advantage.
To make a Harris-Morris combo work, the Pistons have to exploit theirs a little bit better.
“You’re going to have both every night. You’ll have some things that work in your favor and some things that don’t,” Van Gundy said. “It’s a matter of if you can do a better job exploiting the advantages you have than the other team can. Because you’re going to be at a disadvantage at times as much as you’re going to be at an advantage.”
But Van Gundy loves Morris’ grit and selflessness and the breadth of Harris’ offensive gifts. Harris’ ability to both post up and attack off the dribble, he thinks, will take some of the burden for creating offense off of Reggie Jackson’s plate.
“I don’t think there’s much limit as to where he can go,” Van Gundy said of Harris, still only 23. “I think he can be an 18- to 20-point a game guy because of his versatility. It’s just hard. Smaller guys are going to have trouble with him in the post. Bigger guys are going to have trouble with him off the dribble. If he starts shooting the ball consistently, then he becomes a nearly impossible matchup. And he’ll continue to get better.”
Both Harris and Morris are going to play both forward spots, but Harris is at least nominally the power forward most of the time when they share the court. Because of his scoring versatility, he’s likely to draw the more nimble defender among the opposition’s forwards. And that could give Morris the opportunity to attack his defender more off the dribble, as well. Morris is less likely than Harris to take it to the rim – Harris has flashed a devastating left-hand finish in his four games with the Pistons – but his passing ability and mid-range jump shot make him a playmaking threat, as well. Morris, in fact, is coming off a career-high eight assists in the 20-point win over Philadelphia.
“I think the fit’s been good,” Van Gundy said. “They’re both versatile and can make plays. Seems to me that, early on, they enjoy playing together. They’ve made plays for each other. They’re looking for each other. It’s been good.”