Tim Hardaway Jr. Haunts Pistons After Detroit Lets Shooting Slip
tim hardaway jr. is becoming the clearest reminder of what Detroit gave up when it moved on from him. The Pistons thought they would re-sign Malik Beasley, then pivoted to Duncan Robinson in a sign-and-trade, but Saturday's loss made the missing bench scorer and spacing look even sharper.
Hardaway's Detroit shot volume
Last season, Hardaway averaged nearly six threes with the Pistons and played more than six playoff games. He was the kind of veteran wing who could supply a scoring punch off the bench and force defenses to stay honest around the arc.
Detroit's own shot profile makes the decision harder to ignore. During the regular season, the Pistons averaged 30.6 three-point attempts per game, second-lowest in the league, and 10.9 made three-pointers per game, also second-lowest in the league.
Pistons' playoff arc
That trend has held in the playoffs, where Detroit is averaging 29 three-point attempts per game and eight made three-pointers per game. Only Los Angeles and Toronto are taking fewer threes at 25.3 attempts per game, while Orlando is at nine made threes per game and Detroit sits at the bottom of the made-shot list.
The numbers are why Hardaway's absence looks louder now. Detroit is shooting 27.6 percent from three in the playoffs, barely ahead of Orlando's 27.3 percent, and the current rotation has had to lean harder on Cade Cunningham, who shot 8-of-23 with nine assists and nine turnovers, and Tobias Harris, who scored 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting.
Cunningham and Thompson
Ausar Thompson added 17 points, eight rebounds, five blocks and three assists, but the Pistons still do not have the same bench shot-making they once had on the roster. Hardaway is not afraid to let it fly, and the playoffs have made that missing presence harder to hide.
Detroit's decision looks especially costly now because the alternate plan fell apart before Robinson arrived. The Pistons ended up with a move built around spacing anyway, only without the version of it that had already been in their uniform and had already taken six playoff games' worth of pressure.
