The Detroit Pistons offseason was rather uneventful. They didn't get the lottery luck they wanted and ended up with the fifth pick in the 2023 NBA Draft after finishing the 2022-23 campaign with the worst record in the league. And while their first round picks Ausar Thompson and Marcus Sasser showed out during Summer League, they didn't make the type of big splash that fans were hoping for.

Instead, the Pistons will look to build from within, which makes sense considering how they are a rebuilding squad that is full of young talent. The Pistons opened the 2022-23 season with a starting lineup of Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Bojan Bogdanovic, Saddiq Bey, and Isaiah Stewart, but that group didn't play together very often, as Cunningham got injured in November and Bey was traded to the Atlanta Hawks. Thompson will almost certainly take Bey's spot in the lineup, but is that the only change Detroit will make to their starting lineup? Let's take a look at why it isn't, and why one starter could find himself stuck on the bench to begin the season.

Pistons player in danger of losing starting job: Isaiah Stewart

Stewart began last season as Detroit's starting center, but the same may not be true for him this upcoming season. Stewart is a tenacious rebounder who has done an admirable job reorienting his game towards the perimeter, which is a must for centers in the modern NBA in order to survive and stay on the floor. Stewart has managed to turn himself into a stout all-around defender who can hold his own when switched out onto guards.

Stewart also was serviceable stretching the floor as a stretch five and even a stretch four for periods of time last year. Stewart had yet to average more than one three-point attempt per game before last season, but he bumped that up all the way to 4.1 attempts from deep per game and kept his shooting percentage from behind the arc at 32.7 percent, which is roughly the same as it's been throughout his career.

Stewart can do these things in addition to traditional big man stuff like rebounding, rolling to the rim, and anchoring a defense. It's why the Pistons locked him into a four-year $64 million extension this summer. He's a good player. But he's not a lock to begin this season as Detroit's starting center.

That's because second-year stud Jalen Duren is also very good. Duren stepped into the NBA as an 18-year-old rookie last season and didn't look very phased by the jump to the big leagues. Per-36 minutes, Duren averaged 13.2 points and 12.8 rebounds while shooting 64.8 percent from the field. When he actually played close to that number of minutes last season, his stats were even better.

Duren is only a teenager but looks like he's chiseled out of stone. He can bang with any of the few brutes that are still out there at center. Not only can he do that, but he's also already solid as a rim protector.

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And offensively he isn't just a roller and finisher. Duren was a very nifty passer in college at Memphis where he averaged 1.3 assists per game. The flashes of feel and soft touch as a passer were rampant during his rookie season in Detroit too.

Stewart got the nod as the team's primary starting center last season. He started 47 of the 50 games he played for them last season, while Duren started only 31 of a possible 67. But Duren was very productive as a starter last season. It seems counterproductive to not start a center that is making $16 million per season, but Duren should get that nod this season. Early indications seem to suggest that Duren will get a chance to make the starting center job his own to begin the season.

That means that Stewart could be the odd man out of the starting lineup. Stewart is a good player who is talented enough to play alongside Duren, but that might not be the best way to get the most out of the Pistons' young core. How their starting lineup comes into focus will be worth watching as training camp gets underway soon.